Empty Promises
by Venator Noctis
Summary: Every man makes dozens of empty promises. But they always make at least one promise that they will keep, no matter the cost. But that promise they make good on, could be useless. So even if they keep that promise, is it still empty? Wrong Girl-Who-Lived. H/D
1. Every Legend has a Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I never will. I will never make money off of it either. Now, on with the show yeah?**

Proluge

_'The best laid plans of Mice and Men oft go awry'_

_Excerpt from:_ 'To a Mouse' by Robert Burns

The day was October 31st. All saint's day. All Hallow's Eve. Though you may know it today, as Halloween. Many stories circulate Halloween. Halloween was first celebrated by the Celts, though under a different name, and for different purposes. At first, the day was meant to appease the dead of the Celts, as the Celts believed on this day that the spirit world was extremely close to the world of the living. So close, spirits could come and go as they pleased. Later, it was a day for saints of the holy church in Rome. And over the years, Halloween saw many different changes, but it's roots with the Celt, and specifically the spirits the Celts believed walked among the earth, were never really forgotten, even thousands of years later.

People like to believe that the stories from the time of the Celtics, were just that, stories. Stories meant to explain things that could now be explained by Science.

Many don't realize, that the Celts were a lot smarter than we believe them to be, and knew more than we do now. We think their stories were myths. They knew they were real.

But we are not here for more history are we? No, we are here for the story of what happened today on Halloween of 1981. So come with me, dear reader. Let me tell you a story...

Lets start with location. The most general location I can give you is the fact that our story takes place in Europe. To be more specific, our story starts in the United Kingdoms, in a place known as Godric's Hollow in Britain. Our main focus is, for the moment, about a whole family, but later on only one person in that family becomes important to us, but that would give away the story if I told you who right now.

So for now, lets focus on this Family. This Family was a well knit family, built on love and happiness. This family was known as the Potters. To their friends and other people like them, they could be described as the perfect family. To you normal people, you might describe them the perfect family, but a little bit on the... strange side. Some extremist would call them absolutely mental. The reason for this was that while the Potters were a perfect family, they were certainly not normal. In fact, they were as far as they could be from normal. They were crazy to the normal world, if the normal world ever really saw their actions of so called craziness.

They were as normal as could be in the Wizarding World. Yes, you heard me right dear reader, and yes I have been to a human hospital before, and no, I was not deemed insane and thrown into, what do you call them? Ah yes, the "madhouse" or a asylum. I'm rambling aren't I? Back to the Potters. The Potters were wizards. Wand-waving, potion-brewing, broom-riding wizards and witches. They could do nearly anything possible with a simple wave of a wand, and could cure the most dangerous illnesses with a simple potion.

Now, let's introduce the Four Potters than, shall I? The father of the Potter Family was James Potter. He was above average man with his height, reaching a good enough height (I suppose, but then again, what am I to know about human affairs?) of 5 foot 10. He had Black Hair that was, to put it simply, just all over the place. In his youth, he had messed with it, trying to make it look wind-swept, as he liked how it looked, and later on, deemed "the chicks love it." Today, however, it was just simply messy, and all over the place. He had Hazel eyes that always seemed to look mischievous like he was doing something he shouldn't. His jaw was straight, and his nose pointed, but not hooked. His ears were attached, and his cheekbones were low. He held himself straight, and if one with a good eye such as I, could see the arrogance that used to be overwhelmingly obvious, but was now barely there, almost never appearing.

Lily Potter was as I said, the mother of the Potter family, and was known as the smartest witch of her age. She was shorter than James, coming up to a, I would guess, decent height of 5 foot 6. I guess that's average? I don't know, and probably never understand the point of knowing whether or not a human's height was average or towering, and It would never matter to me. I'm rambling again, aren't I? What was I going on about before? Ah yes, Lily Potter.

She had red-hair that glowed in the sun, and seemed to have it's own source of light even in the dark, as you could still tell her hair was red in the dark, as it seemed to glow slightly. Her features many would describe as attractive, and some would describe as, what were the words? Ah, "bloody hot!" Her face was beautiful to look at. He lips were red and plump, and her nose was small and rounded. Her cheekbones were were less-defined than James, but could still be seen if one looked closely enough. Her ears were small but unattached to her body, which was just as well, as they were plenty useful in putting her long, pesky hair behind them. Her whole face was heart-shaped. Her curves on her body were, well, you could tell she was a good-looking woman, as well as a healthy one, lets just say that, yeah?

Her most defining feature however, was her eyes. Her eyes were large, and were emerald green. You could see her every emotion in them. Not many had her eyes, and were just captivating. They were truly windows to her soul, and just seemed to draw you in if her looked into them for even more than a few seconds.

The Potters had two children. One son, and one daughter. Their eldest son, Harry James Potter, was different from his father, as Harry cheek-bones were higher than his father's, but lower than his mother's. Later on, his jaw would be chiseled while his father's was straight. Other than that, he was a almost copy of James features, just a little better I suppose. He inherited James hair's color, but his hair could be tamed enough that it could go in one direction and straight, but never flat on his head. Harry usually left it messy anyway. Harry was 4 years old, and had received his mother's eyes, just a little better.

You could see his every emotion, but his eyes would glow with a almost ethereal light when he was happy, and would dim quickly to the point where you could say they were missing something when he was sad. Later on in life, his eyes could be as hard as stone, and almost black when he was angry, but were blank most of the time. Some would even describe them as dead. But that's for later when he's older. Let's move on to the sister.

The Potter's daughter, Harry's little sister, Samantha Rose Potter was defiantly her mother's daughter. She inherited Lily's hair literally. It was the same shade of red, and even though she was only one, her hair was already starting to grow out at a fast rate. She had inherited her mothers face and features, but with Jame's ears and cheekbones. She had also received his eyes, which included the slightly mischievous glint in them, which was so small, it was practically non-existent.

The Potter's loved their children immensely and would go to the ends of the earth for them. Both of them. For now, at least, they would. That's for later on in the story though. Right now, the Potter's were celebrating Halloween in Potter Manor. They were having a rather nice party, but it was mostly private. The only people in attendance were the Potter's friends, and if you looked at the Potters, you could clearly see they were having a good time, but were worried about something, which wasn't surprising for the time. You see, at this time, the Wizarding World was in a state of open war.

Martial law had been decreed by the Ministry of Magic, and Aurors, or magical police, were everywhere to be seen on the streets in front of Potter Manor and in Godric's Hallow. They were wearing normal clothes seen on muggle, or normal, people to blend in with them. The reason for this was because of a terrorist known as the Dark Lord Voldemort. He was so dark and evil, that many were scared to even utter his name. It was well known he was after the Potters right now, but it was unknown why.

Well, the Wizards didn't know why. I knew, but that's later on, and could potentially ruin the story right now, and no one likes a ruined story. I remember once someone spoiling a story I liked quite a bit and- I'm rambling again, ha, very sorry, lets continue shall we?

The night was at it's darkest hour, and the stars could be clearly seen. It was cloudy as well, and If we take a look at one of the balconies of the massive Potter Manor, we can see Harry Potter, just sitting on a chair and looking at the sky. He had been like that for 15 minutes now, taking a break from the party. Faint laughter came from behind Harry. Then, a shadow came into view. Slowly, it crept upon the chair, coming closer, the shadow raised a hand and touched the chair and said...

Harry? What are you doing up here? Why aren't you at the party?" The voice and shadow belonged to the now visible Albus Dumbledore. He had more names than that, but I'd rather not get tongued tied right now. Dumbledore was very old was the impression many would get at their first sight of him, which would make sense, since his hair was so gray it was almost silver in appearance and he had a beard that reached his stomach. His mouth was almost hidden from view, and the wrinkles you could see on his face were more from smiles, but right now you could see some stress marks on his forehead. The only thing that offset the whole old man look was the grandfatherly smile and the twinkling, kind, blue eyes.

Harry turned to look at the man he thought of as a grandfather. "Hi Grandpa Dumbledore! I'm just watching the clouds. And the stars. I think they are very pretty, don't you?" Harry asked, turning his green eyes on Dumbledore. Dumbledore chuckled and said "Yes, I think they are very pretty." He looked up. "In fact, the night looks very beautiful tonight." Harry looked up to.

"I like the night. It's so nice and quiet. And I really like the moon. It's so pretty to look at, and it's so bright." Harry said happily. Then, his eyebrows furrowed. " Grandpa, why is the moon so bright?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore chuckled Harry's questions were a normal thing, and Dumbledore was delighted to fill the curious boy's head with knowledge. He would make an excellent student when he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore was sure of it, and looked forward to seeing the boy he thought of as a grandson excel at school.

"The moon is so bright because the sun shines on the moon, and the moon get's brighter as more light shines on it." Harry furrowed his brows again.

"So the moon re-, reflects light then?"

Dumbledore was also delighted to see that Harry's speech was improving at a rapid pace. He could already, obviously, form whole sentences with ease.

"Precisely, Harry, and I would be delighted to tell you more about the moon."

"Really?" Harry said, looking at Dumbledore with bright, eager eyes.

"Really, but later. Right now, I believe there is a party we could be attending, and I do believe there is a cake you're mother is baking. I saw it myself on the way here, and it look and smelled delicious " Dumbledore said with emphasis on the word delicious The mention of cake was enough to catch the attention of the child, and hearing Dumbledore describe it began to make Harry's mouth water.

"Was the cake made of chocolate grandpa?' Harry asked. He loved chocolate.

Dumbledore smiled, and said "Well, how about we go find out?" He said, his eyes twinkling.

"Yeah!" Harry said with enthusiasm and promptly shot off like a bullet. Dumbledore laughed at his antics, and hurried after the child before he could attack the cake his mother was currently finishing, though from the screech of 'Harry' that shot through the Manor was enough for Dumbledore to know that Harry was already in the kitchen. Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes twinkling merrily as he hurried down the stairs. As he went, he silently prayed to some unknown deity that Harry would never see the ugly face of the world for a long time yet. That he would never experience the terrifying acts of war that now plagued the world. I am sad to say, his prayers would go unanswered.

The party had ended, and as Lily wished the Greengrass's goodbye, James was entertaining his children with a light show in the large Potter Manor Family Room. The room was well furnished, with a plush golden carpet making up the floor of the room. There were three scarlet couches surrounding the den, which was a small incline with two steps leading down into it. There were two more scarlet chairs facing a muggle telly in it. Lily had made it her mission to update Potter Manor with muggle devices, hence the muggle telly in the family room. That was really the only thing she added so far though, as she was just fine with wood stoves in the kitchen. Lily was muggleborn, so that was why she knew of the muggle device that was now in the family room.

James laughed as he saw Harry's attempt to catch the bright lights coming out of the end of his wand. His daughter gurgled and laughed as well while he held her and had her arms raised, her tiny fists opening and closing in an attempt to catch the bright lights as well. Lily came back, frowning as she saw the time and thinking that her children should be in bed, not wide awake because of Jame's little light show. She scowled, and was ready to start shouting at James when she saw her children's antics, and couldn't the smile that came over her face just watching the beautiful scene.

Despite the scene though, Lily really wanted her children to sleep. It was way to late for them to up. "James, it's time for the kids to go to bed."

James pouted. "Aw, but Lily flower, it's Halloween! And Harry ate a lot of cake, and still has a lot of sugar to go through. Your're not sleepy at all, are you Harry?"

Harry's eyes got wider and he looked at his mother "No, Harry isn't sleepy at all! Harry is wiiiddee awake, see?!" Harry even used his hands to show how awake he was, which had Lily laughing and James smirking at her.

"See, Harry's awake! Why should he go to bed now?" He said in a confused tone of voice.

Lily slowly stopped laughing, and said in a stern voice "Because it's late! And-" Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by the houses shaking, and a alarm pierced the quiet of the night. James paled, and quickly but carefully put his daughter on the couch, and looked out the window of the large family room. "Lily it's him! Take the children and let Dumbledore he's here. Go! I'll hold him off!" James said desperately.

"But James-"

"GO!"

Lily was looking at her husband with tears in her eyes, but nodded and picked up their daughter with her arms. "Alright James, but as soon as I call him and get the kids to safety, I'm coming back to help you!" She said fiercely James smiled grimly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, love." he said to her.

Lily kissed him, and looked at Harry. "Come on Harry baby, come with mommy." She said, and held her hand out for him. Harry looked back at his father. "Why isn't daddy coming? I want daddy to come too!" Harry said. The house shook again, and James fell to his knees.

"James!"

"Daddy" Harry and Lily shouted at the same time, and Harry ran to his father. "Harry come back here, please!" Lily begged desperately.

"Daddy!" Harry said as he reached his father and hugged him fiercely "What's going on, I don't understand!" Harry said, with tears in his eyes. "W-why can't y-you come t-too?" Harry asked again, now crying. James held his son.

"Daddy has something to do, and he needs you to be strong while Daddy is away, okay? You need to be grown up right now okay? You need to keep your mother safe for me, your sister to. Promise me." James said, his eye's stinging.

"But-"

"Promise me!"

The house shook once again, and James gasped in Pain.

"I-I promises Daddy" Harry said. James smiled through the pain.

"That's a good lad. You'll make me proud, you'll always make me proud. Daddy loves you Harry, and I want you to know that, okay?" James said to Harry. Harry nodded, and James looked at Lily. She was crying, but understood the look. She knew right then and there, this would be the last time she saw her husband. "I love you James!" She said, tears streaming down her face. Samantha, as if sensing the bad situation, began to cry. "I love you too, Lily." James said. He looked at Harry. "Go with your mother okay? And don't look back, no matter what you hear, alright?" Harry nodded, and hugged his father one last time, then ran back to his mother. She grabbed his hand, and with one last look at James, she turned and began to move up the steps.

James looked at the stairs, and then turned and stood. He stayed standing as the wards fell. He stayed standing as his front door exploded mere feet away from him. He would face his doom standing tall, and he would go down swinging. Even against the Dark Lord, he would fight until he couldn't fight anymore. He needed to buy some time.

Lily and the rest of the family had only made it to the second floor when she heard the front door explode. She turned and looked back for just a moment, but it was a moment to long, as when the door exploded, a man in a black robe and a hooded face stepped through the smoke. You could see his red eyes through the hood. He looked around the room, then looked up. Lily turned and tried to run with her family, but the man waved his want, and the floor in front of them fell and broke. "My my, so rude to run from a guest, and you haven't even offered tea." The Dark Lord Voldemort said in a high cold voice. "You're fight, Voldemort, is with me, not them!" James shouted at him. Voldemort turned his eye on James.

"And you believe you can stop me?" Voldemort asked with disdain. James nodded resolutely.

"I reckon I can hold you for a little while, don't you think?" James asked, then took a mocking bow. Voldemort bowed back. This was normal dueling routine in the wizarding world. You bow to your opponent first, and they bowed back. It was a show of respect, but here, it was mocking, and unnecessary Both duelers hated each other with a passion.

"Than let us test the powers of Lord Potter vs. the power of Lord Voldemort." Voldemort said with amusement Then fired a sickly green curse at James. Summoned a couch to him to block the spell, then fired a spell back at Voldemort. Lily then turned away from the scene, confident that James could hold his own for now. She looked at the hole in the floor ahead of them, and knew they wouldn't have time to get past it. She lead Harry into a room closest to the hole in the floor. It was a guest room, and was a rather plain room, but with a great view of the mountains nearby. It had a bed, and a few cabinets and a dresser with a mirror on it.

Lily out her daughter on the bed, then lifted Harry onto the bed to. "Stay here, and protect your sister, okay? Promise me you'll always protect your sister for me, okay?" Lily said with tears in her eyes. Harry nodded, and made the same promise a second time to a different parent. "I promise Mommy" Harry said, and help his sister close. Lily smiled, and with tears in her eyes, kissed his forehead, and did the same for his sister. Lily was glad to see she had stopped crying, as though she sensed that her mother needed her to be quiet. "I know you will Harry, I know you will." Lily said with a smile. Then she stood, and said "Mommy loves you both, so so much." with tears in her eyes, and they streamed down her face. Then she turned, and opened the door, and left, closing the door behind her, leaving Harry and Samantha alone in the dark, with only the light of the moon for company.

Harry sat with his sister in his arms, and rocked back and forth, listening to the shouts that came from outside the room and downstairs. He heard the bangs, and the cries, and once even heard high, cold, scary laughter. Then he saw another green light from under the door, and heard his mother cry of "James, no!" and he heard the scary laughter again. He saw more lights from under the door, and the sound of footsteps coming hurriedly towards the door of this room. That's when he heard his mother begin to cry. "No! Not them, not my children!" and then the high cold voice once more of the hooded man. "Step aside, step aside silly girl!" Harry heard his mother again say "Please no! Not my babies, take me, take me instead! Please! I beg of you!" He heard her say imploringly. "Enough!" Harry heard the high cold voice said, then he it the voice say "Bombarda!" And suddenly, his mother burst through the door with a scream of pain, and landed in from of the door. Samantha began to cry. Lily turned away from the door, onto her stomach, and began to crawl pitifully towards the door, trailing blood behind her as she went.

The hooded man stepped through the door, and like a monsters out of Harry's nightmares, saw his red eyes. Harry looked away from them quickly, and looked at his mother. She was looking at him with tears in her eyes, and mouthed the words 'I Love You' over and over again. Samantha was still crying, but Harry was to shocked to. He then saw the hooded-red-eyed-man raise his arm at his mother and say "Foolish girl, thinking you could stop Lord Voldemort! Crucio!" And with that, Harry watched as his own mother was tortured right in front of him. Harry heard someone crying for him to stop, and then realized the voice was his own. "Stop it! Stop hurting her!" Voldemort laughed, but didn't stop. Lily screamed louder, blood coming out of her mouth. Then, Harry got angry. "I said STOP IT!" and with that Voldemort was pushed back, his wand flying out of his hand, and Lily stopped screaming.

Voldemort's wand hit the floor, and Voldemort looked at it in shock. A mere child could do that now? What could he do when he was older?Voldemort looked at Harry, with his eyes narrowed. 'Forget the girl' Voldemort thought. 'If the boy is powerful now, he could be a great threat to him when he was older. This must be the on the prophecy spoke of, he must put him down!' Voldemort thought, as he bent over and retrieved his wand from the floor. He watched as the girl tried crawling towards his children.

Then he killed her, right before Harry's eyes.

He then trained his wand on Harry, and watched as the child looked at him, hatred in the boys eyes. The girl was still crying her eyes out, but Voldemort ignored that. He had his eyes on Harry, and studied him. His eyes were narrowed, and Harry got a good look at how much he man's face resembled a snake's. The man's nose were slits, and his pupils were slits as well. He well and truly was snake faced. "A shame I have to kill you, Harry was it?" Voldemort said softly, but still coldly. "But you are a threat to me, and I can't have that, can I?" Voldemort's eyes were alight with a mixture of curiosity and regret. He then tilted his head, as if wondering what would happen if he continued. "You would have made a good servant." Voldemort said. Then he raised his wand raised higher, and he heard the man shout "Avada Kedavra!" and Harry's world exploded in pain, then his vision faded to black.

Harry awoke to a major pain in his left leg. He looked down to see a stick going right through it, and he groaned in pain. He couldn't tell where he was, and all he could see was fire. Where was his sister? This made Harry wide awake, and had him trying to get up. He had to get op! He had to find his sister, and keep her safe! He promised! For a full five minutes, Harry struggled with trying to stand. He realized he wouldn't be able to walk with that stick in his leg, so he grabbed, and pulled. Pulled as hard as he could. Finally, after another ten minutes of shouting in pain, and couching on smoke, he pulled the stick out of his leg. He was crying from the pain, but he had to find his sister!

With that, he stood, and immediately fell. He looked ahead of him, and saw his father lying down. He could help Harry! Harry began to crawl towards his father, moaning and crying from the pain in his leg, and his throat hurt from the smoke. He finally reached his father, and turned him over. "Daddy? Daddy help! I don't know where Samantha is, and, and I don't know what happened to Mommy, and, and..." Harry stopped when he saw his father wasn't doing anything. Harry could have sworn he was looking right at him, but he still wasn't doing anything! That's when Harry began to shout and cry for help, for anyone to help him. But no human was there to hear his pleas.

"I could help." Harry turned at the voice, to a girl who stood before him. "Really?" Harry asked pitifully, then immediately started coughing. Talking hurt. "Yes. I could... wake him up, your Mommy too. And your sister. I could fix all of it." Harry looked at the girl with increasing hope. "Can you really? Will you help me?" The girl smiled, but it didn't feel right, it made Harry shiver. "Sure, all I want from you right now, is a kiss. Then in 20 years, I'll come back for you, and tell you what I really want then, okay? The girl said. That was it? Only a kiss, and his family would come back? Wake up? The sounded amazing! "I'll do it!" Harry said. The girl smiled again, and Harry could have sworn that he saw her eyes flash red for a moment, then it was gone.

"You know, you're lucky I like you, otherwise I would only give you ten years like everyone else before." She said. Harry didn't understand what she was talking about, but he didn't care. He just wanted this to be over! "Well, time for that kiss." The girl said with a smile, and leaned towards him. He leaned towards her, and she kissed him, heavily on the lips. The next thing he knew, was that he sat up in some grass, in front of him he watched Potter Manor burn. He then turned when he heard the voice of his grandfather, and he saw his parents there, looking at his grandfather with looks of awe on their face. Why weren't they looking at Harry? Then he heard his grandfather say "I show you, Samantha Rose Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, the Savior of the Wizarding World!"


	2. Welcome to Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and I will never make money off of this either. This is solely for my own pleasure. Now, to writing.

Chapter One: Wake up and feel the bitterness

13 years later...

Green eyes opened, and then shut when they saw the sunlight in them was too bright. 17-year-old Harry Potter groaned as he rolled over, thinking it was far too early to wake up. Then he realized just why he had awoken. 'The same dream again. It keeps repeating more and more. Why couldn't my dreams be nice, like flying on a cloud, or swimming in whipped cream or something?' Harry thought bitterly.

"Sam! Time for breakfast!" Harry heard his Mother call up the stairs. It wasn't very surprising to him to note that Lily hadn't mentioned his name. Again. Harry sighed, then proceeded to prepare himself for the day. Harry stepped into his bathroom, and saw himself in the mirror. He saw the black messy hair, the features he shared (Unfortunately) with his father. His face was white, but not pale. It was, well, I don't know, normal? How am I supposed to know? Rambling again...

Anyway, Harry still looked a the mirror. 'I need to shave.' He thought, rubbing his jaw. He could see that his 5'oclock shadow starting to become a full grown beard. 'Eh, I'll shave tonight at Hogwarts.' He decided, and then made the mistake of looking at his eyes in the mirror. He could see the once virbrant eyes, that always held a warm glow to them, were faded. They didn't look warm at all. They looked tired, and sad. They looked so vulnerable, and in so much pain. Harry hated it. He hated to show any kind of weakness at anytime. Right now however, he was at home. He was to tired to put up a mask right now, and besides, no one would notice.

No one ever noticed Harry. Ever since his sister was declared the Girl-Who-Lived, Harry's life hadn't been the best, and his relationship with his parents deteriorated almost over-night. It wasn't that his parents hated him, no, they didn't abuse him either. They just seemed to... forget his was there. Every now and then when Harry walked into the room with them in it, they would acknowledge him, but then ignored him as soon as his sister walked in. In short, Harry was neglected, and it hurt the boy. A lot.

No really noticed it, but Dumbledore. The first time Dumbledore saw him after declaring his sister the Girl who lived, the old man saw his eyes, and immediately felt guilty. As soon as Albus saw Harry's eyes, he knew what was going on. He knew his parents were neglecting him, and immediately sought them out. He warned them about alienating their eldest son, but it fell on deaf hears.

Seeing no success with the Potters, he went back to Harry, and proceeded to spend the whole day with him, teaching him, playing with him, and overall just being there for him. His visits were few and far between, as Dumbledore was a very busy man, but it was enough for Harry. It was enough to keep Harry from running away from the now rebuilt Potter Manor. Harry treasured his time with the old man, and always looked forward to the old man's visits.

Even Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, seemed to forget Harry existed. But Harry was okay with that, as long as Dumbledore visited him every now and then.

"Sam, come on! You need to eat and then get to the train, it's leaving in 45 minutes!" Lily's voice broke Harry's day-dreaming. He was so into it, he didn't even he had been in the shower for the past 15 minutes. "Hold on Mom! I'm brushing my hair!" Sam shouted back down the stairs. Harry snorted. Samantha really spent too much time on her hair. Harry stepped out of the shower, took one look at his messy hair, and deemed it looked good enough to get through the day. Harry didn't really care how his hair looked, as it always looked the same to him. Messy, and all over the place.

After getting dressed and coming out of his room (Which was the one farthest away from the wing his family lived in) he came near the stairs at the same time his sister did. Harry was about to go down the stairs when his sister sneered at him, and said in a haughty, arrogant voice. "Lady's first, you idiot!" Harry scowled, thinking of a good comeback, but did not, as she would just tell his parents, and he would get yelled at. He backed away from the stairs.

"The stairs are yours, oh Lady Potter." Harry said, his voice dripping with sarcasm that was missed by his sister. The years of being the focus of attention from her family and uncles, made Samantha become very spoiled, and extremely arrogant. 'She is doing a good job of following in James's footsteps.' thought Harry angrily. His sister smirked at him, then went down the stairs saying "That's right, listen to your betters." That had Harry seething, but nothing showed outwardly. Harry just usually bottled everything negative he was feeling up, and did nothing with it.

Harry went the stairs next, and received a nice surprise when he saw the man he thought of as a grandfather. "Grandpa!" Harry said with a smile on his face. Dumbledore turned from the conversation he was having with James and smiled warmly. "Har-"

"Hey kiddo!" James interrupted Dumbledore. "How's it going?" James asked. Harry's smiled dimmed just a bit, but Dumbledore noticed, and frowned. "It's going good." Harry said warmly, but with a hint of bitterness that again, only Dumbledore noticed. 'No thanks to you, father.' Harry thought darkly, but kept the smile on his face. "Hello, Harry." Dumbledore said warmly, despite his frowning at James' back. Harry's smiled came back to becoming bright.

"Hello Grandpa, how is it going?' Harry asked.

"It is going well. I hope you are ready for your last year of schooling?" Dumbledore asked, his moustache twitching, as he already knew that Harry would pass this year as the top of his year, as he had always done every year before. Harry smiled.

"Of course I'm ready, what makes you think that I'm not?" Harry asked in mock indignity. Dumbledore chuckled. "I have never doubted you child, and I will not start now." Dumbledore said honestly. That made Harry soften, and drop the act of mock indignity. "Why are you here Grandpa?"

"I was just sorting out some issues regarding a certain... event happening this year, and just letting your family know of it." Dumbledore said cryptically. That spike Harry's curiosity. "What event?"

"Oh, you'll find out later this year." James answered that question that time, not feeling comfortable with being left out of the conversation involving his own son. Harry nodded, and was about to ask when he would find out when his sister came in the room. Immediately, James focus went from one child to the other. This made Harry frown at him, and then turn back to see Dumbledore's sad smile. "They will come around Harry. I'm sure they love you very much." Dumbledore said softly. Harry scowled. "Yes I'm sure they do, but they must have trouble remembering it for the past 13 years." Harry said bitterly. Dumbledore sighed, then decided to change the topic.

"I've noticed someone starting to become dangerously close to taking your position of being top of your year when it comes to classes." Dumbledore said, waiting for Harry's reaction. He was relieved to see Harry's attention shift from his parents to what he had just said.

"Really? Who?" Harry asked.

"A fellow house mate of yours, I believe. One miss Daphne Greengrass?" Dumbledore said, wondering what Harry thought of that. Harry seemed to wave it off.

"Ah. Yeah I've noticed to. She has been really moving up on the charts. She beat Blaise last year, and he was right below me." Harry said. Dumbledore smiled.

"And you aren't worried she will pass you up?"

Harry smiled. "No, she is good, but I have her beat in Defense against the dark arts." Dumbledore couldn't deny that. James always spoke with pride at the staff meetings when Harry was mentioned. Said Harry was a natural at his class. Excelled in everything he did. Oops, did I not mention that the elder Potters had started to teach at Hogwarts? My bad. They did so when Samantha started Hogwarts. James taught Defense against the Dark Arts, and Lily ended up teaching years 1 - 5 in advanced charms.

"You may be better than her at DADA, but she could pass you up in something else." Dumbledore said, smiling once more at Harry's reaction.

"Let her try. I am honestly looking forward to the challenge."

Harry stepped through the barrier that lead to the platform of 9 3/4 's. This barrier was in a muggle train station called King's Cross. The platform was hidden from the muggles, so no one even paid attention to someone disappearing right through a supposedly solid barrier.

When the Potters had arrived, he had let the rest of his family go first, as he knew what would await them on the other side. When Harry did step through, he wasn't surprised to see that he couldn't even see his family, they were surrounded by a sea of reporters. Harry snorted, and dragged his trunk behind him and onto the train. Finding a compartment, he lifted his very heavy trunk with almost no effort at all onto the racks above the seats. He sat there looking through the crowd for his friend.

"There you are." The compartment door opened, and Harry turned at the voice.

"About time you showed." Harry said disdainfully. Blaise Zabini turned his nose into the air.

"I haven't slightest you are talking about, Potter." Blaise said haughtily. Harry snorted. Blaise smirked. Then they both burst into laughter. Harry stood and pulled his best friend into a manly hug. "It's good to see you mate." Harry said. "Likewise." Blaise replied. He then raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to show off your muscles again by lifting my trunk onto the racks for me?" Blaise said innocently. Harry mock-scowled. "Sod off!" But lifted his trunk anyway onto the racks. Blaise sat down, and immediately started talking about something Harry was interested to hear. "Did you hear? There is going to be no quiddicth this year!" Blaise said.

"Really? Why?" Harry asked.

Blaise shrugged. "No idea, just heard Nott talking about it during the summer."

Harry nodded. Then furrowed his brows. "Speaking of Nott, where is Theo?" Again Blaise shrugged, and was probably about to say something about it when their compartment door opened with an arrogant voice saying "Hello there Potter."

Harry grimaced. Leo Malfoy, the eldest of the Malfoy brothers, was a king among fools. Or in other words a Leader among purebloods. His father Lucius Malfoy was among those on the school board, and help a lot of power in the ministry. Because of this, Leo usually knew things that many wish they could know about the upcoming school year. And Harry absolutely detested him.

"Malfoy."

"Now now, that isn't the way to treat a guest is it?" Leo said with a smirk on his face.

"No, but you're not exactly a _wanted_ guest, are you?" Blaise said. Leo turned to him with a sneer.

"And you speak from experience? After all, I bet Potter only stays around you for future connections in the Ministry. If your mother wasn't as high up as she was, Potter wouldn't even waste his time of day with you." Leo said, his normally pale complexion tinged with pink.

"Malfoy, if I wanted to get high up in the ministry, I would have followed yours and your brother's example and kiss your fathers pureblood, death eater ass.' Harry said coolly.

"In fact, you are not a wanted guess, to state Blaise's words. So do us a favor (Harry discreetly pulled his wand out) and leave." He then promptly banished from the compartment, and the door was then locked.

"Fucking prick."

Blaise snorted. "He is, isn't he?"

Harry shrugged. "It is what it is."

Blaise nodded. "Amen to that."

Not another word was uttered the rest of the way to Hogwarts.

_**oo**_**OO**_**oo**_

Harry was quickly growing bored with his situation. He was currently in the Hogwarts great hall, watching with a blank expression the sorting of this year's first years. Harry discreetly wondered how the current head boy and girl (Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang) were going to handle them, and the rest of the student population, but dismissed it. He didn't really care either way. He sighed as another first year get sorted into Ravenclaw (Park, Sarah!) No, if anything Harry was more concerned about how a hippogriff looked in a pony costume, and without wings… with a muggle party hat on the horn of the pony costume, then these first years being sorted into some random house. Harry looked up to his 'grandfather' with a bored expression on his face. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, then shrugged his shoulders, as if to say "what can you do?"

Harry sniggered, gaining some strange looks from his fellow peers, and glares from Malfoy's entourage. Harry shrugged, then turned his body back around, only to meet the sky blue eyes gaze of Daphne Greengrass. Before you keep reading, I suppose I should put a little bit of back story on this relationship, if you could call it that at this time. Anyway, over the years, Harry can Daphne don't really interact very often. Mostly because Daphne couldn't stand him, and that Harry didn't even seem to realize that she existed at first. Then, towards the end of every year, Daphne's behavior towards Harry turned a bit more hostile, as she grew more competitive, and Harry welcomed the challenge. Of course, Daphne was nowhere near his level, or intellect. Until now, of course. To be honest, I don't think Daphne really cares for Harry at this time in our story. In fact, she wouldn't care if she found out that he had jumped off the astronomy tower and died. Anyway, back to the story.

Harry raised an eyebrow and said "What are you looking at?"

Daphne scowled. "Something extremely ugly, arrogant, and stupid. I'm currently wondering how you are the top of our year." She said angrily.

Harry smirked. "It's nice to know you care so much about how I look, and to answer your question, is that I'm just a genius."

Harry said with a wink. Daphne grimaced.

"Who would have to time to care about you?" She said bitingly

Of course, she had no way of knowing just how much that affected Harry, and Harry's eyes flashed while Daphne's expression was one of triumph. Just when Harry was about to retort when Dumbledore stood. Harry looked over at him, shook his head, then promptly ignored Daphne. Daphne's triumphant smile changed into a scowl. She was sure she had won that little bout. "What the hell Potter?"

Silence. Daphne started to turn a little red. "Don't ignore me!"

Harry didn't even turn around, deciding it wasn't worth it. Daphne's face darkened, but she suddenly adopted a black expression, as if remembering her reputation as the 'Ice Queen of Slytherin'.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, then began to speak. "Welcome to another year of Hogwarts. To all those who are new year, welcome to a whole new, hopefully exciting, world. To our 2nd and above children who have returned to Hogwarts, welcome back to a dreadful existence of learning." This statement was met with a wave of faint laughter. Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"With all that aside, time for announcements. The forbidden forest is just that, forbidden. Try to remember that this year, Mr. and Mr. Weasly."

Dumbledore said in a stern voice looking at the Gryffindor table, but his twinkling eyes gave away his amusement. "And another thing, the school wide quidditch season has been called off-"

this was met with many groans and cries of outrage, but no one was louder than Sam Potter's cry of "NO!", making Harry look at his younger sister. He knew that she hoped to make the quidditch team this year, as she had been rejected the past three years. Dumbledore continued speaking. "- and to be replaced with the tri-wizard tournament!" This was met with the Weasly twins shouting together "You're joking!"

"I assure you, it is not a joke. Hogwarts will play host to the tri-wizard tournament. The other schools Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will arrive later on this month. I trust you all to reat them as you would treat the most valued guest." Dumbledore said with a critical look to all of the students.

"Should I hear anything about degrading words or physical assault upon the foreign delegates, the punishment will be severe." Many of the students excitement seemed to nearly disappear when they heard that warning. Harry turned to look at his sister once again, and noticed that she didn't seem to care about the warning, and had a greedy glint in her eye, and Harry could practically sense her want to win the tournament, hear her thoughts of higher glory and riches, feel her heartbeat accelerate from the mere thought of winning that tournament.

It made Harry sick.

'_Tear her apart! She is worthless! She took your family, she hurt you, and she treats you like garbage! KILL HER!'_

"Harry, you alright?" Harry shook his head from the daze. The hell was that? "Harry? It's time to go…" Harry looked to see Sarah Parkinson looking at him with concern. Sarah was Pansy's older sister, and was in Harry's year. She was also Harry's other best friend. Harry shook his head again.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry said with the trademark Potter smile that could make many girls blush. Of course, Harry had no idea that Sarah wasn't just looking at him with concern, but also a little bit of fear. She could have sworn she saw Harry's eyes flash black. Was she seeing things? Or was there something really wrong with Harry?

"Are you sure? I can take you to Madam Promfrey if you want?" Sarah said again, her purple eyes shining with worry. Harry smiled.

"Yeah I'm sure. " Harry yawned. "I'm exhausted, let's go to the dormitories shall we?"

Sarah nodded, but filed this memory to the back of her head to look at later. Something just didn't feel right. "Whatever you say, Harry."

* * *

_Harry sat up to a chuckle. It was, how do I describe it, demonic in nature. Slow, and teasing. A animistic growl undertone to an otherwise higher voice. You could practically hear the lethality in the chuckle. Harry was sitting in the middle of a forest, and it was currently night. The only thing disturbing about the image was the bare trees that look burnt and dead, and the fact that the full moon was blood red._

'_Who's there? Show yourself!' Harry shouted into darkness._

'_You don't want me to do that, Harry. If I did, you might be afraid.' The unknown voice said, but it sounded like It came from behind him. Harry turned fast, but the thing was faster. All Harry saw was a flash of blue fire, and a shadow out of the corner of his eye._

'_Why would I be afraid?'_

'_Some like to describe my face to be somewhat… monstrous.' After saying that, a demonic laughter was heard, making Harry shiver. You have to give the boy some credit. If it was anyone else talking with this creature, they would have tried running a long time ago._

'_Why are you speaking to me?'_

'_Because I find it amusing to hear you talking to yourself, and I have something of importance to speak with you about.'_

'_About what?'_

'_In due time, I will tell you. For now, let's talk about something else.' The voice said._

'_About what?' Harry asked, beginning to feel a little bit of anger._

'_Your sister.' The voice said. 'And the rest of your family, and what happened that night.'_

_Harry felt more anger about this. It seems like even his own head wants to talk about his sister. This was getting ridiculous. 'Why? Why talk about something that happened years ago?'_

'_Watch your tone with yourself, Harry.' This statement made Harry bite back his next question. Why would he watch his tone with himself? Unless…_

'_That's right Harry. I'm you, and your me.' Harry didn't know why, but he knew what the voice said was true. And it scared Harry. He heard something rustling behind him, and turned around to see himself sitting on a rock, a look of amusement on his face. The disturbing thing was that while it look like Harry, the eyes were different. Harry felt like he was staring at something… evil. The eyes were black, but not a solid black. It was like looking at pieces of charcoal after the fire had gone out. The eyes were black, but little bits of what looked like fire were dotted out throughout them. The eyes had no visible pupils, but Harry knew the thing sitting in front of him was really staring at him, and not anything else. The thing gestured in front of him, and the ground began to shake. Then, an onyx table with lava streaming off of it rose from the ground, with a chair following closely behind it. The thing once again gestured._

'_Sit.' Harry sat._

'_What are you?' Harry asked. The thing chuckled._

'_Well, you'll find out soon enough. Until then, I'm just, to put it simply, a part of you.' It said._

'_So, you are a part of me.' Harry said, and thing seemed to roll it's eyes. Harry couldn't tell, as it had no pupils or iris. 'What are you kids learning these days? Of course I'm a part of you.' The thing said._

'_So you are me then. Does that mean I control you then? After all, you are just a figment of my imagin-' Suddenly the table in front of him exploded as the thing slammed it's hands on the onyx table. Harry looked up to see the black eyes were now very close to him, and seemed to be on fire with anger._

'_Let's get something straight here kid! I may be a part of you, but I am definitely not you. I'm something else, but I live in you. You will never be able to control me! If you ever try to control me, I will cause you so much pain, you will go insane for decades! AM I UNDERSTOOD!' The monster in front of Harry roared. Harry nodded, fearing for his life. 'Crystal!'_

_The thing glared a little longer at him, then seemed to relax. Then it smiled. 'As long as that's clear between us.' _

_The thing said as it went back to sitting on the rock. Harry slowly relaxed, not even realizing that he was shaking. Eventually, Harry composed himself and asked another question._

'_So… do you control me?' Harry asked, fearing the answer. The thing smiled, but it looked wrong. It looked more like a demonic grin._

'_For the moment, no. But I will eventually, if your mind turns out to be weak as the previous vessels.'_

_This statement hit Harry, and made him angry. He hated being called weak. 'What do you mean by that?' Harry said, standing up, anger flowing through his veins. Suddenly, Harry's back was against the wall and the thing had its' hand around Harry's throat. 'Exactly what I meant. If your mind is weak, I will control you. Make you do great things. Terrible things, but oh so great.' The thing said, laughing that demonic laugh._

_Suddenly, Harry had a vision of him standing above a mound of bodies. Men, and Woman. Children. In front of Harry, a city was burning, screams sounding from it, and Harry just stood in front of it, on top of all those bodies, and was laughing. That evil, demonic laugh._

"NOOO!"

Harry sat up to see all his dorm mates all awake and looking at him, and Blaise sitting on the floor. That nightmare was so real, and felt horrible. Harry swore he could still hear the demonic laughter echoing around his head. Then Blaise asked:

"What the hell Harry?!"


	3. The Grass is always Greener

**AN: So, been asked a few questions about this little demonic entity. The answer to your questions, is just wait a bit. I promise I'll finish this story, and you'll have your answers. Well... most of them****.** **Another thing. I have no idea how British schools work, so I'm going to fashion after American ones. They have days off during the week on Saturday and Sunday. Just so no one gets confused. Enjoy! Also, sorry for the delay. I'm having a bit of a writer's block here ..**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this world, just the plot. So there, happy?**

Chapter 3: The Grass is Always Greener

If you asked any boy in Hogwarts school about her, you would have been told she was the hottest girl ever. If you ever asked a girl, they would have said she was the 'Ice Queen' of Slytherin. Well, you could've been told that by both sides, but hell, I'm rambling again. Sorry. On with this story then, yeah?

Daphne Greengrass liked to think she was a very practical witch for her age. Sure, she had jinxed the occasional guy, but that was only because they tried to grope her, or stared at her like she was a piece of meat, or she had to tell them that her face was up top, not on her chest. Come to think of it, she could have sworn she once told a few older girls the same thing, but she didn't want to go there.

As stated, Daphne Greengrass liked to think she was a very practical and smart witch for her age. Her intelligence was unmatched by most of the school, and her determination doubly so.

Of course, no one knew this but her. After all, she was supposed to be cold girl who doesn't show emotion, as it could hurt her. Instead, she hid behind a mask of indifference, and never showed her true face to anyone, except for her best friend Tracey Davis. She shared nearly everything with her. What she liked to do, what she did that day, who she hated, and why…

Speaking of this, this was happening right now, right after the sorting.

"I HATE Potter!" Daphne said angrily. Tracey snorted, but didn't look surprised at this.

"I know, you've only told me about a million times." She said, rolling her eyes. "When are you going to tell me something that I don't already know?"

Daphne scowled. "I remember when you agreed with me, and we'd be able to talk for hours about this!"

Tracey, once again, rolled her eyes. "First of all, I only agreed with you so you would shut up. Secondly, those talks lasted for like, a minute, not hours. It's almost like you're obsessed with him!" Tracy said. Then she had a pensive look on her face.

"Are you?" Daphne looked confused.

"Am I what?"

"Obsessed with Potter?" Tracey said, a mischievous grin on her face. Daphne's face went red. If you asked her today, she would tell you it was out of anger, and she said that to Tracey's face. In reality, she had no idea what she was feeling at the time, and said something like:

"W-W-W-What? Of c-course n-not!" Daphne spluttered. Tracey laughed at her friends indignation.

"I believe you…" Tracey said.

"Good." Daphne said to her friend.

Tracey then proceeded to run out of the room singing: "DAPNHE LOVES POTTER! DAPHNE LOVES POTTER!" At the top of her lungs.

"TRRAACCEYY!" And with that cry of rage, Daphne ran out of the Slytherin common room and into the halls after her still singing and giggling friend.

Both of them failed to notice who was sitting in the common room at the time they had run past. With an amused look on his face, Harry Potter stepped out of the common room, and looked down the hallway the two had just run down. 'Just another day at Hogwarts.' He thought, shaking his head.

_Empty Promises_

A scowling Daphne stepped into the great hall, a limping but giggling Tracey Davis following behind her. She swore she would get back at Tracey at some point, but for now she was hungry, and was intent on having breakfast, and relaxing most of the day. Today was Saturday, three weeks after school had started. She already had most of her homework done, and she figured that she would finish the rest tomorrow. Today, she wanted a nice, slow, Potter-free day. That last request might be a hard one.

"Oi, Greengrass. Some of us are trying to go inside and eat." Harry Potter said from behind her, making her turn around with her hand already in her pocket. She was to slow however, as he already had his wand out, but no pointed at her. 'The bastard must have had it drawn already. Stupid coward.'

"What do you want, Potter?!" She said angrily. Potter rose his brow.

"I thought I just said what I wanted to do. Are you deaf?" Potter said, his eyes twinkling from amusement. Literally. She could count the stars in those eyes, and they were so bright…

'Snap out of it girl!' Daphne thought.

"I'm not deaf, I just don't understand idiot!" She said spitefully. Harry just smirked, and shook his head.

"Whatever Greengrass." He said, and walked past her into the Great Hall, and then turned before he reached the table "Oh, and next time we talk Greengrass? Try to talk and not stare." He said with a wink, and turned his back on the shell-shocked (and not to mention blushing, but she would always deny that.) Daphne.

"Stupid prick.' She thought angrily, moving towards the opposite end of the table and sitting down to eat, alone. 'Hang on a moment, where did Tracey go?' She thought, looking up and around, but failing to find her friend. "I knew you were obsessed with Potter!" Tracey said, materializing out of nowhere and making Daphne's heart jump in fright.

"What are you talking about!" Daphne said angrily, making Tracey giggle.

"Just now, you spent like 5 seconds staring at him before you came up with some sort of comeback. Are you sure you just hate Potter? Or is it more of a love – hate?" Tracey said seriously, with a mischievous glint in her eye. Daphne struggled to hold back a blush, and decided to just ignore her hyperactive friend.

"Whatever Tracey." Daphne said, rolling her eyes turning to the food laid out on the table, and promptly began to eat.

"You're no fun!" Tracey said, pouting, but began to eat as well, still talking about Potter, making Daphne tune her out. She didn't tune back in until she heard the bell ring, signaling the end of breakfast, and the start of classes. Still, she continued to ignore her best friends remarks about Potter on her way to Defense against the Dark Arts, believing silence to be the best solution to the current problem.

_Empty Promises_

When DADA was over, Daphne couldn't be happier. She wouldn't admit this to anyone (Especially not Potter!), but she was really starting to struggle in Defense. Last year, she was lucky to scrap by with an A. Right now, at the rate she was going at the end of the year she was sure she'd get a D, or Merlin forbid a T. Daphne didn't know why, but she had always struggled with new defense spells. Maybe she was doing something wrong, or maybe she just wasn't strong enough? No, she had always had a good core, and if she dare say it was one of the best in her year, but it wasn't enough to learn these new spells, such as a high powered Reducto. When she tried, it might not do anything, or it would happen and she would almost pass out. (She did once, actually.)

Daphne really hoped no one would find out about her trouble with Defense, but of course with her luck, the new teacher Professor Moody picked up on it almost immediately.

"Greengrass?" Moody called after her as she was just about to leave the room. She gulped, and took a breath.

"Yes Professor?"

"Can I see you for a minute missy?"

"Of course Professor."

She turned, and stepped back into the classroom, and followed Moody to his office. She expected him to say some rubbish about how she could be doing better, or something like that. Instead, she was surprised to hear someone else's voice in the room that wasn't Moody's.

"Ah, hello there Greengrass." Daphne tensed, and turned to see a smirk on Potter's face.

"Potter?! What are y-you doing here?!" She stuttered just a bit when she looked straight in his eyes. 'Why does he affect me like that?'

"He's here, to tutor you." Moody said.

"WHAT? N- I mean, him? Really? Isn't there someone better?" Daphne asked, close to screaming her head off at Potter and Moody.

She didn't need a tutor, not really. She could this on her own!

"In reality, no. Most of the teachers are simply too busy. So, He's the best bet you got at passing this year." Moody said.

With a glint in his eye, Potter said "You aren't scared of me are you Greengrass? Scared of what I can do?' He said, amusement in his voice.

This made Daphne blush, and screech indignantly "What? Of course not!"

"Good, then I expect to see you after Breakfast tomorrow at the Quidditch Pitch."

"But tomorrow is a Saturday!"

"Do you want to pass? Then do as I say!"

Potter almost growled out, and this made Daphne take a double-take. Since when did Potter growl?

She sighed, and said "Fine, but you better teach well! Otherwise you'll regret it!" She yelled at him.

"I would hope not, because if you do something to him, you won't have a tutor. Believe it or not, he was the only one who agreed to tutor you, so you better listen to him Missy, am I clear?" Moody growled, making Daphne gulp, and Potter to snicker, which made her blush _again_.

"Yes Professor."

"Good. Dismissed."

Daphne and Potter both turned to leave, and Potter opened the door and mockingly bowed. She smacked him (why didn't she jinx him?) and told him to shut up, while once again flushing red. All he did was chuckle, and closed the door behind him.

_Empty Promises_

"So, how it'd go with Moody?" Tracey asked her friend the next day at breakfast. She would have asked yesterday, but she didn't see her for the rest of the day, except that night, and Daphne was already asleep.

"Oh, it was dreadful. He assigned me a tutor!" Daphne said despondently.

"Really? Who is it?" Tracey asked, wondering who was brave enough to tutor the 'Ice Queen'.

"Well…"

"Who is it Daphne?"

"It's, um, er-"

"Damnit Daphne, just tell me!"

"Alright! It's Potter! Are you happy?" Daphne all but shouted, flushing red. 'Why do I always blush when he's mentioned?!' Daphne thought angrily. She then noticed Tracey's face, and the glint in her eye.

"Tracey…" Daphne said warningly.

"What? I didn't do anything." Tracey said innocently, fluttering her eyes to add to the effect.

"Whatever, I have to meet him after breakfast." Daphne muttered, grabbing a piece of toast and spreading some jam on it.

"Oh. Bit early for him to ask you out, isn't it?" Tracey said, and mischievous look on her face.

"What? NO? It's for tutoring, not a date. God Tracey, you're impossible!" Daphne said, exasperated.

"Whatever, you know you love me!" Tracey said, immediately breaking down into giggles.

Daphne rolled her eyes, suddenly losing her appetite. She looked over at the Gryffindor table, and didn't see Potter, so she inferred that he was at Pitch already, no doubt trapping the entrance. Sighing, she stood up and left he breakfast behind, walking away.

"Have fun!" Tracey called after her.

Daphne was tempted to flip the bird, but she controlled herself. Walking out of the great hall and into the grounds, making her way towards the Quiddicth Pitch.

When she arrived she found Potter sitting on a table, eating an apple while looking at the sky. Behind him were many piles of rubbish that were lined up, and on the right far side part of the pitch were some what looked like straw dummies. The left side of the pitch was clear of anything, making Daphne wonder what they were going to do.

"Potter." Daphne said.

When she said that, Potter still did not turn to her. Instead, he held up a hand, as if to tell her to wait for a moment. Indeed, she had to wait a minute or two more, before Potter finished his apple and turned to her, a smirk on his face when he saw the frustration in her eyes.

"Ah, there you are Greengrass. Was wondering when you were going to show up. Beginning to think that you weren't going to come." Potter said, as if he hadn't known she were there for the past few minutes, making her even more angry with him.

"Shut up Potter, you stupid prick!" Daphne said in a fit of anger.

"Ah, temper, temper Greengrass. You're going to have to learn to control that if you want to do well in DADA." Potter said, a serious look on his face despite his eyes a bright green with amusment.

"Whatever." Daphne said, rolling her eyes.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"Well, depends on what you have trouble with. Come on, I'm all ears." Potter said.

Daphne scowled, hating to talk about her faults.

"I'm not having trouble, I just need a refresher!"

This, made Potter scowl, and his eyes that were once a bright green, became more of a forest green in a instant.

"Look, if you weren't having trouble, you wouldn't need tutoring. I'm wasting my own time volunteering to help you, so the very least you can do is cooperate Greengrass, otherwise you can just kiss your graduation goodbye, understood?" Potter said, his voice serious.

This shocked Daphne. Who knew he could be so serious, after being so much of a git all this time? Still pondering his sudden change of mood, she nodded.

"Good. Now, what's your trouble in Defense? Once again, I'm all ears." Potter said, stretching his arms.

Daphne sighed, then said "I'm having trouble with the spell-casting." She said quietly, looking away for just a moment.

Potter nodded, as if he knew that the whole time. "Yeah, I noticed that in class. It seems you have trouble matching up your wand movements with the actual voice. Here, watch me." He said, and Daphne watched.

"Stupefy!' He called, pointing his wand at one of the piles of rubbish behind him. He turned back to Daphne.

"You try now." He said.

She gulped, and took out her wand, walking next to Potter and raising her wand. Her hand was shaking, and she had no idea why. Was she nervous? No, she couldn't be. Steeling herself, she raised her wand and called out "Stupefy!" In a clear voice.

Nothing happened, and her shoulders sagged in shame. How come she couldn't do this simple jinx? Expecting Potter to laugh at her, she was prepared to smack him when he surprised her again.

"Try again."

"Are you serious? You know I can't." Daphne said, wondering if he hit his head on the way here.

"And that's why I'm here, to help you. Wand up." He said.

Blowing out air, Daphne turned and raised her wand again. She was about to call out, when he grabbed her arm.

"You're raising it to high, and your arm is to stiff. Relax, and lower your arm a bit. It helps with aiming." Potter said, watching her with a critical eye.

Daphne scoffed. This was how she was taught, and he said it wasn't right?

"This is how I was taught the spell!" She said.

Potter nodded. "Yeah, but it doesn't suit you. It's why you can't cast it, because they taught it right in general, but not enough for you. So, just do what I said, and let your arm flow with your voice. It has to be smooth, not rigid." He then turned to her, and moved his arm as if to say 'go on!'

Daphne gritted her teeth, but did as he said, calling out the spell, preparing to fail again.

A red jet of light came out of her wand, and in the blink of an eye hit the pile straight on. She looked surprised, and then laughed.

"I did it!" She said excitedly, than remembered who she was with.

"I mean, of course I did." Daphne said, turning to Potter with a straight face, as if she didn't moments earlier believe she couldn't do something. Of course, the pink cheeks she had ruined the image, and Potter chuckled at her.

"I never doubted you." He said, making her grit her teeth.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not, think I would mock my own advice?" He said, smiling at her, his eyes twinkling like Dumbledore's in amusement. Daphne scowled, but blushed slightly at the smile. 'What the hell?'

"Whatever Potter, just keep teaching." Daphne said, rolling her eyes and wishing this was over.

"Yes master." Potter said teasingly.

Daphne gritted her teeth, knowing that this was going to be a long day. Still, she wouldn't argue with the results.

_Empty Promises_

Daphne walked into the Slytherin girl dorms, breathing out a sigh of relief, and promptly flopped onto her bed. Today had been exhausted. Turn out Potter could be a real tough bastard when it came to training.

"So, how did it go?" Tracey asked.

"It went well surprisingly." Daphne said, glad for the fact that her dormates weren't back yet.

"Did it? Really?"

"Yes. He was actually a good teacher. He taught me how to cast Stupefy within five minutes." Daphne said, quite proud of that fact.

"Wow, teachers couldn't do that for years!" Tracey said, impressed.

"Yeah. After that though, we didn't do much more spells. He just taught me more wand movements. Turns out I was too stiff." Daphne said.

"I'll say. You're the Ice Queen after all…" Tracey trailed off, and Daphne looked at her.

"What?"

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"When you're going to be under his arm." Tracey said, a mischievous look on her face, and her eyes dancing in silent laugher.

Said face was then hit by a pillow by an indignant Daphne.


	4. Nightmares, Nightmares my friend

**AN: So, so, so sorry for the delay guys. First writers block, than my power gets knocked out, and then graduation from middle school to high school, it's all a bit fucked up. But everything is good to go now, so here is chapter 4. Chapter 5 is also on the way, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just my plot.**

Chapter 4: Nightmares, Nightmares my friend.

For the 14th straight day in a row, Harry woke in a cold sweat, a scream coming from his lips. He sat up in his green and silver four poster bed, panting with tonight's recent nightmare fresh in his mind. He shivered as he recalled the creatures demonic voice, and the smell of burning flesh, and the screams of the innocent people echoing in his ears. As the last of the echo's faded away, he started to notice his surroundings once more. No one was standing next to his bed with a worried look on their face as they hovered over him, or looking annoyed because he disturbed their sleep, or asking him is he was okay.

Sighing with relief as he realized his silencing wards held, Harry muttered out, "_Tempus"_ ,and groaned when he saw it was 5 AM in the morning. Knowing he wasn't going to get much sleep, he got up and set about beginning his daily routine.

As he stepped into the shower, he wondered about his recent nightmares, and pondered on what they could mean. He just couldn't understand how that… that… _demon, _was him! The thing wore his face, true, but there was no way it was truly him, right? By chance, he caught a glimpse of the mirror, and had to stifle a gasp.

His eyes were black. The black eyes of the creature were his own.

He stared in horror, and then blinked. His eyes turned back to the normal emerald green they always were. He looked around, but only water and the shower stalls met his gaze. Swearing quietly, Harry turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and walked quickly out of the bathroom. Avoiding the mirror. Perhaps if he hadn't, he would have noticed his eyes, while green, were tinted with black.

_Empty Promises_

"Potter!"

The shout made Harry's head shoot up with surprise, and he grimaced as he realized he had fallen asleep, with his porridge acting as a pillow.

"Potter!"

Hearing the voice again, Harry muttered a quick _scourgify, _ and turned to see an annoyed Daphne Greengrass standing in front of him. He noticed how her face was darkened, and how her dazzling blue eyes stood out against the darkened countenance. Wait… dazzling?

"_What are you staring at Potter?!" _She screeched, her voice raising an octave. Harry cocked a brow.

"You, obviously." Harry said, deciding to be cheeky.

She flushed, which Harry thought was amusing. Evidence to this were his eyes twinkling slightly, which made him look very similar to one Albus Dumbledore, who proceeded to watch the drama unfold between the two very attracted (even if they didn't know it!) to each other teens with his eyes twinkling in amusement. Neither teen of course saw this, as they were too focused on the other.

"I know that. Why are you just staring at me?!" She asked, though had to put a little effort into not stuttering, and her blush deepened.

Harry's eye twitched at the tone, though he didn't know why. "Maybe I'm a little peeved at how someone was disturbing my breakfast?" Harry asked, slightly mocking, though with a hint of anger.

Harry was surprised at that. '_Where did that come from?'_ Daphne didn't notice the tone, and instead raised a brow, and looked at the head shaped porridge. "More like beauty sleep." She said, just staring at the porridge.

Harry somehow managed to beat down the blush that threatened to form, and scowled, saying "I knew I looked good, so I don't need my beauty sleep. Thanks for the compliment though." Triumph on his face as he saw her blush. '_I got you now!'_

Daphne bristled at that, and her already deep flush deepened to a shade even a Weasly couldn't manage, which Harry thought was pretty interesting. "This is getting me nowhere." She muttered.

Harry cocked his brow, again. "Where did you plan on going then? I heard Australia was nice this time of year, or maybe the States?" He asked, a curious expression on his face, and a smile dancing in his eye.

"That's not what I- Oh, very funny Potter." She said angrily, seeing his face, and could tell inside he was holding his ribs with laughter. Sighing, she decided to ignore the immature behavior. "I was wondering when to meet you for the next tutoring session, and where?" She asked, her very deep flush starting to fade to Harry's sadness. He thought it made her look incredibly… cute?

He nodded though, knowing the fun was over and it was time to be serious. He thought about it a little, and said in response, "Meet me by Hagrid's hut after breakfast." He said.

She raised a brow, and opened her mouth to ask a question when Harry raised his hand and said "No questions, just do as I say." And then fixed a glare on her.

It must have worked as she nodded, then walked away. Harry turned back to the table, smiling as he thought of what he was going to have her do during today's lesson. He picked up his spoon, saw black hairs in his porridge, and decided on some bacon instead.

A fantastic decision, as his brain, taste buds, and stomach agreed.

_Empty Promises_

"Come on Greengrass! The faster you do this, the faster we can move on!" Harry shouted, smirking as she bristled.

For the past 15 minutes, he had her levitating a very large boulder (About the size of Hagrid) 5 ft. above the ground, which was almost head height for her. She had just let the boulder drop, and was bent over double, holding her knees with her wand in hand, panting, rivers of sweat rolling down the side of her face, to Harry's sick amusement.

"Why *Gasp* do I *Gasp* need to do *Gasp* this *Gasp* Again!" She said, trying desperately to catch her breath, but seemed a fruitless attempt.

Harry looked at her with a cocked brow. "Are you deaf? Or are you just stupid? I told you before, and I'll say it again. What is the point of a powerful spell if you can only do it once?" He asked her, and she just glared in response.

"Look, to win any duel, you need to have the endurance and stamina to last during the fight. It does you no good to be halfway into the fight, and then suddenly collapse because you just exhausted your core, does it?" She shook her head. "This exercise increases your magical stamina and endurance, which enlarges your core, and strengthens your magic. This not only lets you do more spells in a shorter amount of time, which could overwhelm your enemy, but also lets you increase its power, duration, and even size and area of effect. Got that?" Sighing reluctantly, she nodded, and prepared herself again. Harry nodded.

"Right, on the count of three. 1… 2…. 3!

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _She cried out, the boulder rising as she commanded it to do so.

Harry sighed, and shook his head. If she was having trouble now, just two weeks into the school year and his tutelage, than she was going to have a real tough time once he started her on physical fitness. He looked over, and was satisfied to see not only was the boulder levitating, it was also not shaking.

"I expect that boulder to remain in the air for at least 20 minutes!" Harry shouted to her, and all she did (could do, though she would never admit it) was nod in response.

Harry remembered the first time had her doing this exercise. It was the fifth time they had met so he could tutor her, and she had immediately complained.

_*Flashback_

"_I don't see how lifting a gigantic boulder is going to help me pass this year!" Daphne shouted, exasperated. _

"_I told you, it increases your magical endurance and stamina, which-"_

"_I don't see how endurance and stamina is going to help me pass either!" Daphne shouted, even louder._

"_GREENGRASS, QUICK ACTING LIKE A FUCKING CHILD!" Harry shouted angrily, which surprised him, but he ignored it._

_This shocked Daphne into silence. Whether it was because he had sworn, or had actually shouted at her (which he had never done before) he didn't know, but it didn't matter._

"_Endurance and stamina are the base elements of defense! What good are spells if you can't cast more than 20 without passing out?! No good at all! Endurance and stamina are things you need to keep a shield going, even when it's getting bombarded with spell after fucking spell! Endurance will keep you on your fucking feet during a fight which could end your fucking life! Stamina will keep you able to cast the spells needed to save yourself from a certain death, so shut the fuck up, and let me do what I'm supposed to do, understand!" Harry snarled, fury coursing through his veins, his body shaking with suppressed rage, and in the front of his mind he was going through his knowledge of spells to use on her should she complain again._

_Daphne was watching and listening in shocked silence, her mouth wide open and eyes widened in fear. She had never seen him this way, and it really frightened her. Harry saw this, and sighed, calming down. He didn't understand how he had lost control like that, but it scared him. He was supposed to be in control, so what the hell had just happened?_

"_Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm just getting annoyed at how you seem to only want to learn the things that will help you pass. If I were you, I would gladly be doing whatever you told me to do, so I could learn everything I could. A grade is nothing when you're on the battlefield facing opponent after opponent. Doing good in class won't save your life in a fight. It's my duty to teach you yes, but I'm going to teach you my way. I'm not going to just teach you what you want to know so you can pass a little class. No, I'm going to teach you what I think you __need __to know, so not only will you pass, but you'll also win nearly every duel or battle you get into. By the time I'm done teaching you, you'll be able to duel me for at least an hour before a winner is finally decided, and you'll be able to last that long at least against Dumbledore himself! So please Greengrass, just be quiet and have faith that what I'm teaching will absolutely 100% guarantee help you not only succeed in class, but exceed on the battlefield!" Harry said to her, in a stern but gentle voice._

_Daphne nodded, and sighed, closed her mouth, and gulped. She looked at her feet, then Harry, then back to her feet. She swallowed again, looked up, and asked in a small, timid voice, "What do you want me to do?"_

_*End flashback._

That had been 15 days ago, and when she had attempted the exercise, Harry watched in shock and awe….

….as the boulder shook and feel within 30 seconds. At the time, Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything, and instead had said "Again." It had taken 10 tries before she had been able to hold it up for a minute, and even then she and the boulder had been shaking violently. Harry nearly had to bring her to the hospital wing. Still, that had been 15 days ago.

Under his strict but fair training, Daphne had made some pretty impressive progress. After twenty meets in total, and 15 of them including the exercise, anyone could tell there was something different about Daphne Greengrass when they saw her in defense class. For one, she could cast any spell she wanted now with satisfactory results (much to Moody's delight), and two she could hold a boulder above her head for at the very least 15 minutes. A good start as any, and it well exceeded the expectations of a Hogwarts teacher, and just met the time an average Auror could hold it.

Harry sighed though, knowing she still had a very long time before she met his standards, which included being able to hold the boulder up for hours on end, without shaking once. That was only one thing he expected of her by the end of the year. He muttered out _tempus,_ and saw 25 minutes had passed. Oops. Better not to tell her that.

Harry looked over, to see her shaking violently, and he immediately called for her to slowly lower the boulder. Of course, this did not happen exactly as Harry wanted it to. He expected her to slowly and gently let it drop. She let it fall with a resounding thud. Harry swore he saw it crack. He was about to berate her, when he saw her fall over. Sighing, he stood over her extremely sweaty form, he saw how her face matched a tomato, and her nice (nice?) chest was heaving faster than he had ever seen before.

"How *Gasp* long was that?" She asked breathlessly. Harry made a show of looking at his wrist, and responded "About 20 minutes."

She groaned, but he could tell she was happy she had met his, temporary, expectations. Raising her hand in a silent plea for help, he reached down and helped her up, supporting her with his weight as she leaned against his shoulder for a minute. "That's really hard, I have no idea how you did it!" She said finally.

At their sixth meet, he had her sit down while he levitated the boulder for an hour, and he made a show of being able to make it turn, flip, and spin while he was walking back and forth, casually talking to her as though there wasn't a one ton boulder flying 10 ft. above his head.

"Hours and hours of practice and self-discipline. Believe me Greengrass, one day you'll thank me." Harry said, while helping her stand straight, then letting go of her shoulder.

"You wish!" Daphne said jokingly. "So, what's next then? Practicing spells?" She asked, curious as to what would happen next.

To her surprise, Harry shook his head. "Today, we are going to take a few notes, and talk a little." Harry said, and motioned for her to follow him. She did so, surprised.

Harry led her into the forest ("Are you nuts, Potter!") and into a secluded clearing, where Harry conjured up a table and two chairs made of elegantly carved oak ("Show off" Daphne muttered.) and a house elf popped up, laying out sandwiches, soup, a Caesar salad, and water on the table, then popping away again. Harry motioned for Daphne to sit, which she did, eyeing the table in disbelief.

"How did you manage this?" She asked.

Harry grinned, and shrugged. "The elves will anything, as long as you ask them nicely." He said, than winked at her.

She nodded, and decided not to question anything else. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked, reaching for a sandwich.

Harry poured himself some soup. "Something that isn't very easy to understand, or teach very well." He said, putting a spoon into her mouth.

"What is it?" She asked, sipping some water.

Harry swallowed his soup. "Spell-chaining." He said casually.

This made her stop spreading dressing on her salad. "Spell-chaining?" She asked, an eyebrow raised. Harry nodded.

"I know about that already." Daphne said, taking a bite of her salad.

Harry finished a sandwich, and cocked a brow. "You know the basic idea right?" She nodded. "What you don't know then, is the specifics of the theory. For example, did you know there are 153 different ways to create a spell-chain?" Harry asked. She was shocked, he could tell, and she shook her head.

"Well, now you know. Here-" He conjured up a pen and paper. Daphne knew what these were, as her family actually liked how the muggles did things, and thus used muggle things at home. One of the many reasons why Greengrass Manor hasn't hosted a party for 50 some years. "You're going to want to take notes on this, as it can get confusing trying to get it by memory the first time." She nodded, and put aside her fork and picked up the pen, looking up to see his approving nod.

"To let you know, this lesson is going to last probably until dinner, so it's okay to eat while I talk, unless I tell you to write something specific down." She rolled her eyes, but nodded again, motioning for him to start, eager to begin.

"Alright there Greengrass, hold your horses. We have all the time in the world." Harry said teasingly, his eyes dancing in amusement at her attitude, which he rarely saw. She once more rolled her eyes, but stole his sandwich and took a bite out of it, making it hers. "Hey!"

"What? You said it was okay to eat. Calm down, Harry." She said innocently, fluttering her eyes for effect. Harry tried not to blush at how cute it looked on her. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.

"First name bases now are we Daphne?" He asked. She blushed, and tried to hide the fact that she had done so, but knew it was too late because he started snickering.

Blushing even more, she pouted and huffed cutely (cutely?) "Whatever Potter, just start the lesson."

Harry was slightly disappointed by her calling him Potter, but decided to just get to the point. "Right. So today we are obviously learning about Spell-chaining. Before I even really start, I want you to know you're going to have homework for this." He said.

"Are you serious?" Daphne asked, expecting he to be a joke.

"Yes."

"…"

"Anyway, let's begin shall we?" When she heard this, she perked up and readied her pen, and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Now, spell-chaining is not an easy topic, nor is it an easy feat to accomplish. The idea of spell-chaining is, and you should write this down, is casting a multitude of spells in a quick succession in a short amount of time." He checked to see if she had wrote that down (Which she had) and continued.

"This may sound simple to understand, and it is at first. The more specific you get, say what kind of chain you want to major in, the more complex it gets. First, you have to be good in a certain branch, then you have to go through the painstaking task of doing spell after spell in the chain of your choice until you can do a complete chain without failure once, and it the spells come easy, as though flowing from your wand. If you mess up, you must begin the chain from the beginning, or otherwise your core won't be able to handle it. It's like kinda like lifting something heavy, dropping it to rest, then picking it up again only to find it feels heavier. It feels like that, but much more dangerous, as the strain could cause your heart to stop if you mess up repeatedly." Harry stated, watching as the tip of her tongue poked out the corner of her lips as she wrote down the information stated. Seeing her finish, he continued.

"It gets even more complex when you repeat a chain, as you must have the order of the spells memorized when you first begin, though when your core is used to it, you can flip around the order. However, the spells must stay the same. Adding a new spell could overload your core, and cause yourself to either explode violently, or simply just drop dead." At this, Daphne winced at the though, and was a little more pale as she wrote this information down. "Either way, you'll feel a lot of pain before it happens, so try not to push past your limits." Harry stated, then paused to drink a little water, so he could continue without a hoarse voice.

"Combining more than one type of chain is even harder. Combining the chains that are incompatible with each other, will cause your wand to explode, which can be very deadly for your health, as a splinter can blind you." Daphne paled even more, and looked a bit green. "For example, combining a devastating chain with a passive chain will overload the wand, as a devastating chain is comprised entirely of explosive spells, while a passive chain is a chain that is made more of charms that make the environment fight for you. The two do not match very well, and if your wand does not explode, your magic will drain at an extremely fast rate. So fast, it would make Dumbledore, who is seen as the most powerful wizard in centuries, will be turned into a squib in just two or so minutes." Harry said.

"Why, Harry, that does not seem very fair. You might just be exaggerating it a little bit." An aged voice said, which made both students turn, one with a surprised expression, while the other was happy.

"Hello Grandpa!"

"Good day, professor."

Dumbledore chuckled at the two different responses. "I was taking a walk through the forest, when I noticed the most peculiar set of spells surrounding this clearing. Naturally, I disguised myself and pushed through, intent on finding who was responsible for the remarkably cast spells seen around this clearing. Imagine my surprise when I find two students in it, studying spell-chains no less!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his twinkling eyes on full blast.

At this, both students looked a little sheepish. Well, Harry looked sheepish. Daphne looked as though the end was nigh. Dumbledore laughed when he saw her expression. "Why are you so worried miss Greengrass? I'm not going to expel you for learning!" Dumbledore said.

"Bu-but we're in the forbidden forest!" Daphne said, worried.

"So it seems." Dumbledore said amused.

"Aren't we in trouble? Aren't you going to punish us?" She asked, astounded.

"Yes, it would seem I have to. Hmm… ah! 5 points from Slytherin!" Dumbledore said happily.

Daphne, well, there really is no other word to describe her at this point, and Harry was trying his hardest not to burst into laughter.

"What's wrong? Maybe it isn't harsh enough for you… 5 points from Slytherin each then! How about that Miss Greengrass, satisfied?" Dumbledore said, struggling not to cry from laughter, much like Harry was at the moment.

He could hold it no longer. Harry burst into loud laughter that was soon echoed by the headmaster. Harry soon feel to the ground holding his sides and rolling back and forth, unable to form words. Dumbledore was laughing as well, using the tip of his bead to wipe his tears, which only made more form, as it tickled immensely.

Daphne felt as though she was a victim of a huge practical joke. "ALRIGHT! What's going on!" She screeched.

"Oh my, Harry. It seems as though we've made her angry." Dumbledore said, amused. Harry just kept laughing.

Daphne flushed and stuttered as she realized she had just yelled at the headmaster. Dumbledore just waved it off. "No worries Miss Greengrass, I was simply joking. I admit, your face is quite memorable, and I will be telling the staff several jokes about this at the next staff meeting." Dumbledore said, winking. Harry finally stopped laughing, and stood up. He was still grinning however, which had Daphne gritting her teeth.

Eventually, Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Now, I believe you were teaching her about spell-chains. As I recall, that was supposed to remain our little secret?" Dumbledore asked, an eyebrow raised. Harry look a little ashamed.

"Well, you said if I ever felt the need I could pass the knowledge on. I felt she could know it. After all, she is my first student, and I want to make sure I do a good job!" Harry said. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, I suppose I did say that. Still, I'm going to need a promise that you will not tell anyone else about any of this info, and you'll let me know when you're going into the forest. Same goes for you Miss Greengrass. I want to be absolutely certain that it is only you in the forest, and not an intruder." Dumbledore said, all traces of joking now gone.

The two gave their oaths, and Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle once more. "Well, now that this is all cleared up, I'm going to be on my way. Oh, and Harry? Try to make sure that the notice-me-not charm is cast a little more subtly. The tree was much too easy to find. Next time, I recommend using a twig, or a rock. Ta." Dumbledore said, then walked away.

"What is he talking about?" Daphne asked, turning to him. Harry looked at her.

"I set up a subtle notice-me-not ward, which you obviously did not notice." Harry said.

"I know about the notice-me-not charm, but ward?"

"All charms can used as a ward. For instance, Wingardium Leviosa can be made into a ward which sends those not keyed into the war flying and staying in the air. Accio can be used to forcefully push an unwanted individual into say a hole, or a prison cage. Augumenti can be used to either turn the floor into a raging whirlpool, or send a miny tsunami at someone. Get my drift?" Harry asked. Daphne just gaped at him.

"All wards though, as you know, need an anchor. I used a tree, believing it able to blend in with the others. If you tried to go past the ward, you would suddenly find yourself within the forest area of the wards, not being able to see anyone and hopelessly lost until I brought the ward down." Harry said.

"And if the ward isn't put down?" Daphne asked, fearing the answer.

"Then that person would be lost until they died." Harry said, grimly.

Daphne had no response to that. "I'll teach you how to make these wards later this year, so don't worry about that. You're going to need a very strong core, and occulemcy to do it. So for now, let's just get back to spell chains." Harry said.

Daphne nodded, and readied her pen once more. "So, we were talking about combining chains right? Well to sum that up, basically, do it wrong and you die, do it right and winning is 10x easier, depending on your opponent. A combined chain that is successful against the average wizard will destroy him. A normal chain would beat him. These kinds of chains against say me, Voldemort, or Dumbledore however, can and will be countered, so it is important that you counter that counter, and counter their counter to your counter, and so on. Like I said, it gets confusing." Harry said, noticing how she didn't flinch at the name, and nodded approvingly. Daphne just simple continued to listen and write, completely forgetting the food, which was cleaned up by a house elf. As soon as the food was gone, the table disappeared.

"To keep it from getting more confusing, I'm going to sum up the chains into two basic categories. One is offensive, while the other is defensive. Well, technically there are three categories, but the third one you'll have to learn later, as it is extremely devastating, though also extremely dangerous to attempt." Daphne wrote it all down, then shook her wrist. Harry noticed with amusement at how she shook her wrist, and knew it must be sore. '_Just wait until physical fitness starts honey!... honey?' _Forcing those thoughts away, Harry continued on.

"Now, offensive is basically what the name entitles. It's basically offensive spells, except in such a fast succession that you can't even see the casters hand move, because you're too busy trying to block and avoid the devastating spells. This chain relies very much on the casters ability to cast quickly. If you cannot cast quickly, the spells are easy to block alone. Send three in a row within a second of each other, and that's another story. Auror captains such as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are known best for these types of chains, as well as our real defense teacher who is on vacation, James Potter. Notorious death eater Bellatrix Lestrange was also well known for her use of deadly spells in a rapid succession." Harry stated off, and watched as she not only took notes on the info, but also wrote down the names. Harry nodded. '_Good. Always get as much information about anyone as possible before possibly facing them.'_

"An offensive chain usually consists of the more deadly combat spells, such as explosives, cutters, and fire. The common auror will usually use a stunner combined with ropes to incapacitate their target, while the average death eater will use unforgivable combined with cutters. This can change at any time however, so if you ever face down either of them, be wary of any and all spells casted by them."

Daphne nodded, and proceed to write it all down, making little marks here and there to so they were important. Harry let her continue, then started up again.

"The defensive chain is basically what the names states. This spells are more defensive, though when one is sent at you, it generally packs a larger punch. Be wary of this chain, and an easy way to spot someone who uses this is to look for those people either starting out with a shield, or hold a calculating look in their eyes. These types of people usually defend at first to judge the spells used by their opponents and how they use them. They also look at the power in them, so they don't expend as much energy matching and then over powering the other. Based off the other, they will start to send spells that slightly over power the ones before, and if that doesn't work, they will send as many spells as they can that a powered only enough to injure the opponent. Not enough to end a duel, though even to distract and eventually take down an opponent. These types of people generally cast second in the duel, and those who've mastered this are extremely dangerous. Known people who are extremely good at this type of chain is Lily Potter, my sister, and Alice Longbottom. This chain is usually used more by masters, as less energy is needed to win. Known masters of this chain are Gellart Grindlewald, Lord Voldemort, and Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort didn't use this much however, favoring a more offensive take on this, sending a testing spell out first, than systematically destroying his opponent with minimal effort. Dumbledore, well, he mixes it up, but this is his favored method of choice. Never underestimate these people, because it can be the last thing you ever do. These chains are more comprised of simple charms at the start, though turning more and more deadly and offensive as the fight goes on. It can range anywhere from charms, to mass transfiguration in a fight, so be ready for absolutely anything." Harry said, wanting to drum into her head that this chain is extremely dangerous, though he didn't have to. Daphne got the message, but appreciated the effort.

Noticing Harry had stopped talking, she finished writing it all down, and looked up into his eyes. He looked at hers to, and unnoticed by either of them was that 5 minutes had passed before Harry tore his eyes away to speak. "Finished?" Daphne just nodded, and continued to stare at him, mesmerized.

"Er… uhm… ahem. Your homework is to go to the library tonight and research at least 15 different spells that can fit in either category. Comprise them into a list, and try to think of spells you want to use. Next time we meet, we are dueling." Harry stated.

This woke Daphne up, so to speak. "Dueling?" She squeaked.

"Yep."

"Oh."

"…"

"Hey uh, before you go, I think I can teach you one more spell-chain." Harry said, though a little nervous. Daphne looked up, and raised her pen, eager to learn more, and wanting the lesson to last as long as possible. "That would be great!"

"One condition."

"Anything!"

"You can't write this down." Harry said, serious.

"…What?" Daphne said, shocked.

"The chain I'm going to state here, is extremely dangerous, and must not be taken lightly. So I need an oath that you will never tell another soul, nor write down about this unless you have my permission to do so, understand?" Harry said. He could literally see the gears turning in her head, wondering what he could possibly be about to teach her.

"Alright. I, Daphne Elizabeth Greengrass, do so solemnly swear on my life and magic to never tell another soul-"

"Living or dead!" Harry put in.

Daphne rolled her eyes, but could see why he would say that. "living or dead, nor write down any information about the following information Harry James Potter is going to disclose to me. So mote it be." She said, than looked to him.

"I, Harry James Potter heed her oath, and will hold her to it. So mote it be." Harry stated, and Daphne saw the flash of white the signified the oath.

"Happy now?" Daphne asked.

"Yes." Harry said, relieved that this was not going to get out.

"So, what's so bad about this chain?" Daphne asked, wanting to know, eager to learn. Harry smiled.

"I made this chain myself, and I don't want anyone to know, nor know how to do it." Harry said, and that left Daphne once more in shocked silence, gaping at him. Harry just smirked.

"I call it the adaptive chain." Harry said, the smirk now gone and his voice completely stern and serious, which in turn made Daphne gulp. She had never seen this side of me, Harry thought, and it scares her.

"The reason for it, is that it adapts to your opponent, matching and over powering them spell for spell."

"Isn't that what the defensive chain is?"

"It's more of a combo of both." Harry said, and Daphne looked curious.

"How?"

"Pay attention, and you'll learn. The adaptive chain is so deadly and dangerous, because halfway through the duel I will still be at full magical energy, while the opponent has begun to feel a little bit drained. Can you guess why this is?" Harry asked.

Daphne thought on it, "That's impossible, unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless you never even used your magic!" Daphne gasped, beginning to see.

"Exactly. What makes this chain so dangerous to use, is because you cannot use an ounce of magic until you know your opponents chain, or you know he or she is tiring. At the beginning of the fight, you must dodge and run from each and every spell sent at you, so when you can predict what spell the wizard or witch is probably going to use next, you know how to end a chain at its first spell, and you'll easily have the power to do it, as you have yet to use your own." Harry stated, a little pride seeping into his tone.

"Won't it be harder to cast a spell though?" Daphne asked.

"No, because when you do use your power, it will awaken you, because magic flows through you veins. It's like adrenaline. When you use it, you feel as though you can do anything. It's absolutely devastating, and has no real spell use. This chain is made to counter masters of their arts, and can bring down wizard legends. However, it is extremely dangerous to try, as it requires complete physical fitness, astounding reflexes, and honed instincts. You must be aware of everything, every single second, otherwise a spell will end you. That's just the physical requirements. Mentally, you must have an ironclad mind that can keep out even Dumbledore. You also must have the discipline to not let a gram of magic lose, otherwise when you need it, you'll be a gram short. You must also have an either extremely disciplined core, which you'll eventually have, or a massive one that can afford to lose a little, even if a little is costly. This chain can be your saving grace, or it can be a disgraceful end. Never use this, unless you are fully sure of your capabilities, promise me!" Harry said, knowing the risks of telling her this.

However, Daphne knew the risks as well, and wasn't stupid enough to even attempt to try it in training. Not until she was sure. "I promise."

"Good."

The two went into an awkward silence, that was finally broken by Daphne's timid question of, "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you have the requirements for the adaptive spell chain, Harry?" Daphne asked, fearing the answer.

Harry smiled wanly. "I do."

Once more silence stretched between them, but it was the silence of thoughts. One was just studying the other, while the other was thanking merlin they had never started a real fight with the other.

Can you guess who was who?

_Empty Promises_

Harry was playing his twentieth game of exploding snap in a row with Blaise, and Blaise was ready to pass out, evident by him rubbing his eyes constantly, and his eyes being bloodshot, and he was swaying back and forth. It was 11:00 at night, and Sarah Parkinson was tired of watching Harry run Blaise into the ground playing a game because he didn't want to go to sleep for some reason. She didn't like them staying up so late when they had classes the next day, so she walked right over to them and said, "Come on Harry! Blaise is obviously bad at this game, and is ready to pass out! It's time you both got some sleep, especially when we have classes tomorrow!" She exclaimed, glaring at Harry.

Harry scowled, but said nothing. Deep down he knew she was right, and Sarah knew it too. "Please Harry?" She pleaded.

Sighing, Harry looked down at the cards, then up at Blaise. He had to admit, Sarah was right. Blaise looked like absolutely crap. Sighing again, Harry acquiesced to Sarah's request, and nodded. Looking down, he began to pack up the cards, while Blaise looked at him hopefully, but tried to hide it, knowing something was wrong with his best friend. "Do you want some help packing up Harry? It won't be any trouble on my part, really." Blaise said, trying to mask his concern.

Harry sighed again, and shook his head. "Nah, I'll be good Blaise. Sorry for keeping you up so late. Get some sleep, see you in the morning." Harry said, a little amused at the hope on Blaise's face.

"I can go to sleep now?" Blaise asked, hope in his eye. Harry laughed, and so did Sarah, and nodded.

Blaise whooped with joy (much to Harry and Sarah's amusement) and ran around the room, then hugged Sarah (and she blushed heavily, spluttering.) saying thank you again and again, and ran off to the boy's dorms. Harry's smile though did not last long, and so disappeared with a sigh. Noticing the different behavior, usually Harry was joking by now, she sat down next to him, concerned for her brother in all but blood.

"What's wrong Harry? You know you can tell me anything, and I'll do my best to help, right?" She asked, wanting her friend to open up a little..

Harry looked at her big concerned violet eyes, and didn't have the heart to deny her. "I've uh… I've been having some nightmares for the past two weeks. I'm kinda afraid to sleep right now." Harry said, looking down in shame.

Sarah noticed this, and her heart hurt a little. He thought she would laugh at him, she bet. "Nightmares are nothing to be ashamed of. Do you want to talk about them?" She asked timidly, feeling slightly better that her friend was opening up.

"I'd uh, I'd rather not. I'm sorry Sarah, but I really can't." Harry said, feeling bad about denying her and shutting her out.

Sarah saw his desperate eyes, and knew that was all she was going to get tonight. She smiled a little, and nodded. "I understand. I'm sure if it becomes a large problem, Professor Snape can give you some dreamless sleep potions." Harry nodded.

Sarah smiled sympathetically, and hugged him tight. "Hey, it'll be okay alright? I promise it will."

Harry felt a little choked up at that, and struggled and tried with all his might to hold back the tears that threatened to form, but he couldn't stop the single lone tear that slid down his cheek, knowing his friend really wanted to help him. "Okay, if you promise." Harry said, and hugged her back tight, smiling.

Sarah pulled back, and wiped the single tear away, and could see he was struggling to hide his tears. "I do. Good night." She stood up, and right before she went into the girls dorm, she looked back at him.

"Harry?"

"Yeah"

"It's okay to cry sometimes."

Then she went inside, closing the door softly behind her.

_Empty Promises_

Harry yawned as he prepared for bed, and was determined to get a full uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep at least. Encouraged by his friend's words, he jumped into bed, and immediately fell asleep…

Only to wake up three hours later screaming, the chilling words of the creature echoing in his ears.

'_You didn't actually believe everything would be alright, did you Harry?"_

**AN: So, what did you guys think of this long chapter? Keep the length, do you think? And what do you think of the magic I introduced here? Let me know in a review or to! It only encourages me to write more and faster! So, that'll be all for now, Ta!**

**- Venator**


	5. And So the Plot Thickens

**AN:** **So sorry for the delay in writing this chapter, but I was a little blocked. Now, I know this story is boring for the moment, and this is starting to look like the normal Wrong BWL story, or as someone has told me "Harry-the-jerk". I'm saying this now, the reason for this is that the story needs a solid base. Explanations come later, but I need something to work with. This chapter I'm going to spice up a little, as the choosing of the champions is the main conflict of this chapter, with special appearances from the Potter Parents. Also, Harry has his reasons for being this way, and it does include the thing in his head. Just so you know, it's not a mutated, nor any sort of version of a horcrux. With the twi-wizard tournament, I'm planning on adding in more challenges, say one or two more. The story is going to start taking some twist and turns that, at least I believe, are not shown in other stories that follow the same idea as this story. I also changed the fact that Lily replaced Binns. Lily is now the charms assistant teacher. Flitwick teaches all years, and Lily teaches years 1-5.**

**Another thing, James was the defense teacher, but was taking a few weeks off. From this chapter on, he'll be co-teaching with Moody. Now, on with the show!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs too J.K. Rowling.**

Ch. 5 And so the Plot Thickens

See, Daphne knew that life had its secrets and surprises. Such as her 11th birthday party, which was a nice surprise, or how her mother baked the Christmas cookies. Even how her sister Astoria managed to make her life hell every day. Life's little secrets and surprises.

And then there were the big things that Daphne felt like she should have known, or at least realized.

Such as how Harry Potter, the arrogant jerk that acted like an idiot, not only knew so much about the theory of spells and how magic flows and about spell-chains, but also created his own spell chain. One that sounded extremely devastating for not only the opponent, but also the caster. She shuddered as she remembered the requirements for the adaptive spell-chain, and she doubted she would ever reach those extreme requirements.

These thoughts went through her head all night after that day, and the nights that followed. Today was just another day of her constantly thinking of the knowledge she now knew. Sighing, she casted the tempus charm, and discovered it was 5 in the morning. Groaning, she sat up, knowing she wasn't going to sleep any more today, and thanked Merlin it was a Sunday. She stood up, and gathered some clothes, then headed for the showers, past her snoring dorm mates.

_Empty Promises_

The sun was still rising at this time of day as Daphne walked through the halls. Despite it only being fall, the weather was getting more chilly by the day, and she hated being cold. Which, I suppose, could be ironic, as she was sometimes known as the "Ice Queen", yet she hated the cold with a passion. Deciding she didn't really feel hungry at the moment, she decided to skip breakfast for the moment, instead stepping outside. She sighed as she breathed in the cool crisp October air.

Wait, it's October! That means that the twi-wizard champions will be chosen soon. How in the hell did the time slip away from her so quickly? She decided not to think about it, and walked out towards the lake. As she walked, she noticed something peculiar about the lake. Well, not the lake specifically, but rather something moving around the lake shore. She squinted, and saw it was someone running. Wondering why someone would be running around the lake, she put it out of her mind, and sat by a tree near the shoreline, and dosed off.

The next thing she knew, someone was gently shaking her awake. Blinking furiously, she waved a hand at the offender, saying blearily "Five more minutes, please" and turned over, closing her eyes.

Only for them to snap open when an all too familiar voice said back "So when would you like me to actually wake you up then?"

Daphne turned to see the object of her recent affect- thoughts, Harry Potter standing in front of her, an eyebrow cocked. Daphne took in his appearance, and was surprised to see that Harry wasn't in normal robes, but rather he was in muggle clothing that hugged his body better than his robes ever could, and Daphne could see the muscles on his body.

She blushed. He stared.

"Well?"

"W-what?"

"Forget it. Why are you out here so early Greengrass?"

"I uh, I couldn't sleep."

"Really? What time did you wake up?"

"Around 5 in the morning." She said smartly in reply, her wits coming back to her as the conversation flowed.

Harry (When did he become 'Harry' and not 'Potter'?) stared at her, and she fought with all her might to keep the rising blush off her face. Still, the blush was visible on her neck, which of course he noticed. Thankfully, he didn't comment on it.

"What's wrong, Daphne." He said softly, surprising her.

In all the years she had known Harry, he had always been arrogant, always loud. This, this was new. He was almost…. _Caring_. What also shocked her, was the fact that he, not Tracey, or anyone else in Slytherin, had noticed something was bothering her, and he had only looked at her for a few minutes.

The thought oddly unsettled her, and comforted her.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about." She said, trying to play it cool.

He scoffed at her pitiful attempt. "Oh come off it, I know something has been bothering you since our lesson on spell-chains, You've been too quiet lately, and you're staring off into space more." He said.

Had she really been staring off into space so much in the past few days? Had she really been more quiet? She thought she had acted normally. She decided it wasn't important however, sighed, and looked away from his piercing gaze.

He sat down next to her. Far enough away to be respectful, yet close enough to show friendship. She wished he had sat closer.

"You can tell me Daphne, I won't judge you."

And with that, the floodgates of Greengrass Dam opened.

"It's just…. What made you do it?" She blurted out, and blushed.

He looked obviously confused. "Do what?"

"Well, everything. Why did you, of all people, really want to tutor me? Why go the extra mile when we hate each other? And by Merlin, what possessed you to make such a devastating spell-chain?!" She asked, and took a deep breath.

Harry looked away, and seemed to be mulling her questions over. Just when Daphne thought he was going to ignore her questions, he said "I don't hate you Daphne."

Woah. What? Daphne was sure she hadn't heard right. He didn't hate her? Than what the hell was with the spiteful tone, and the scathing remarks?

"What?!"

"I never hated you in the first place."

"Then, why….why"

"Why do I act as I do to you?"

She nodded, and he breathed out heavily.

"I do it because you do."

"So you're blaming me?"

"No. I only act as I do to you because you act the same way to me. If you had acted differently, I would act differently. Does that make sense?"

She nodded, but kept silent. She felt as though something important was happening right now, but she couldn't tell what it was. He sighed, and shook his head.

"Moving on. I wanted to tutor you because you needed the help." He said simply.

She raised an eyebrow. "You've said that before." She said in a skeptical tone.

He looked at her, sighed, and said, "Fine. The real reason I wanted to tutor you is, well…"

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"I knew there was more to you than I could see, and I kinda wanted to know something."

Daphne's heart beat went a little faster. "What do you want to know?"

"I wanted to know the real Daphne Greengrass. The person underneath a coat of ice. I wanted to be friends." He said.

Daphne felt butterflies in her stomach, and felt the strange urge to giggle. "Friends?" She gasped out.

"Yeah." He nodded. Then he looked sheepish.

"I understand though if you don't want to. I mean, you don't really like me to mu-"

"It's fine." She said, cutting him off. He looked at her, surprised.

"Being friends sounds… good. Better than yelling and ranting about you all the time." She said calmly, though inside, she was anything but. For some reason, she was a little… Disappointed when he said he wanted to be just friends.

"So…. You do talk about me behind my back!" He said accusingly, pointing at her in mock indignation.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered, completely surprised.

"I knew you talked about me behind my back to Davis. You sneaky brat!" He said angrily.

She turned red, and was about to retort when she saw the look in his eyes, and groaned. He burst out laughing, clutching at his sides.

"Oh the look on your face! Priceless I say, Priceless!" He said, tears of mirth running down his face.

She rolled her eyes, and shook her head, groaning '_Maybe being friends wasn't such a good idea…."_

_Empty Promises_

Daphne sighed for the tenth time in as many minutes as she worked on her potions essay in the Slytherin common room. She sighed because while she liked potions and all, earlier events kept distracting her. She smirked as she recalled breakfast.

_Flashback_

_Daphne and her new friend Harry had stepped into the Great Hall together a few hours later for breakfast. Harry Was currently telling her about his sisters first attempt to play quidditch., and was roaring with laughter as she struggled to hide a smile._

"… _and then dad threw the quaffle at her."_

"_Did she catch it?"_

"_Oh sure. If you count getting hit in the face catching the thing."_

"_No way."_

"_Yeah. And that's not even the best part."_

"_What? What happened?" She asked, hiding her mouth with her hand trying to suppress her giggles._

"_She flipped over, and slid right off the broom into a puddle!" He said, and she lost it. They both burst out laughing._

"_Oh that's too good. Looks like the golden girl isn't as good as she claims!" She said, still chuckling a little bit._

_Harry joined in, laughing at his sisters foolishness. "Yeah, her claims are usually far-fetched and way off. The only thing she brags about and can actually do is duel."_

_This surprised Daphne, and as they reached the Slytherin table and sat down she asked, "No way! She can't play quidditch, but she can duel?" _

_Harry grimaced. "Yeah. Dumbledore had to teach her something when my parents begged him to."_

"_He taught her to duel?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a bite of toast._

_For some reason, Harry looked flustered as she took the bite, then seemed to shake it off. "Nah. He taught her some basic charms, and thinking that wasn't enough, Mom and Dad decided to take it a step farther." He said darkly, his eyes becoming stormy._

_She snorted, and once more Harry looked a little flustered. "Of course they did. Only the best for their little princess, right?" She said, shaking her head._

_Harry shrugged, as if to say 'what can you do?'._

"_Nothing to be done about it." He said, but she thought he sounded a bit… angry. She swore his eyes were black for a moment, and then they were back to normal._

_He looked up, and noticed she was staring at him. They both blushed, Harry considerately less so. The blush only got to his neck, while Daphne was a shade to make a Weasly proud._

"_Whoa, A Potter and a Greengrass sitting next to each other without arguing? What happened?" Tracey suddenly asked, appearing from nowhere._

_Harry and Daphne jumped, and Daphne found she felt a bit annoyed at Tracy ruining the moment. 'Whoa, moment? Since when did I have a moment with Harry Potter?!' She thought, then tried to shove the thought out of her mind. Unfortunately, it didn't want to leave. She decided not to think about it as Tracey shook her._

"_-lo! Earth to Daphne!" Tracey all but shouted in her ear, shaking Daphne at the same time._

"_Huh? What?" She asked, her wits coming back to her._

"_Finally! I though we lost you there for a second." Tracey said smiling, obviously amused._

_Daphne flushed, and looked away from Tracey's knowing look on her face, and glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eye. He was also flustered, and was paying more attention to his food than the conversation at hand. However, much to her annoyance, he wasn't blushing as much as she was. How was it that he could control his reaction better than the 'Ice Queen'? It wasn't possible._

_Determined to get a grip on herself, she turned back to Tracey's smiling face._

"_I'm sorry, I kinda spaced out. Did you say something to me?" Daphne asked, demonstrating her ability to control herself. She noticed Harry glanced at her, surprised, and then nodded slightly in approval. For some reason, this made Daphne feel like she was walking on air. 'Focus, Daphne.'_

"_Yeah, I did. I was wondering how you two managed to sit next to each other without biting the others head off!" Tracey said enthusiastically, "Come on, spill the beans!" She practically shouted._

_Daphne sighed and shook her head. Just as she was about to answer the excitable Tracey, Harry cut in, "We became friends."_

_Tracey and Daphne were both shocked into silence, albeit for different reasons. Tracey because she was absolutely shocked by the fact that the two biggest rivals in Hogwarts were now suddenly friends, and Daphne by how he said it so casually without any visible regard for possible consequences. Daphne fought her hardest to stop from reacting in anyway, and worried about what Tracey would say to her. _

_Looking at her friend she noticed that Tracey was staring at her in shock, and Daphne realized she was looking for confirmation. Steeling herself, she gulped and nodded in confirmation, and if the situation hadn't been so bloody awkward and sudden, she would've laughed at Tracey being silenced._

_While Tracey was staring off into space and thinking about this new development, Daphne looked over at Harry, an incredulous look on her face. Harry looked back, and once again did that 'what can you do?' shrug. A quick and furious facial argument took place, with Daphne doing her absolute best to put as much anger into her glares, and Harry doing his best to hide from them with looks pleading for forgiveness and pouting, which looked absolutely adorable. _

'_Get a grip on yourself Greengrass!' She thought loudly to herself, and unbeknowest to her when she thought that, Albus Dumbledore heard it. After all, he was very good when it came to mind magic, and the wars he fought in did well enough to hone those reflexes so well, that he could literally hear a thought if it was thought to loud, like right now. He looked in her direction, and saw Daphne giving Harry a death glare, while he tried to hide behind a bagel plate, much to the old mans amusement. _

_Delighted at the opportunity, he was content with sitting and watching the situation with a growing smile on his face. Noticing the old mans sudden interest, Harry sent him a pleading look, which Dumbledore ignored. 'The only thing that would make this much better', Dumbledore thought to himself, 'would be some nice lemon-drops and a nice cup of brandy'._

_Knowing the old man wasn't going to do anything, Harry grimaced and looked back at the horror that was Daphne Greengrass's death glare, and once more cowered, this time behind a bowl of porridge, pretending to tie his shoe._

_Sending one last withering glare at him, Daphne turned back to her still staring friend, and had to fight back the sudden urge to laugh loudly at her friend, for fear that the rest of the hall would discover what would happen. She felt something poke her shoulder, and turned with another glare on her face to Harry, who was handing her a piece of bacon as a offering of piece, his face a face of utmost terror._

_Daphne wanted to laugh again at the absurdity of the current situation, but instead fixed the "eye" on Harry, which made him pale dramatically. She then took a piece of bacon imperiously, and waved her hand in a clear dismissal, as though she were a goddess sending away a servant. Playing along, Harry bowed as much as he could in his seat and withdrew the peace offering._

_Daphne's eye danced with amusement as she turned away, despite the situation at hand. Somehow, Harry still managed to make it enjoyable. She took the bacon peace offering and left him be. 'For now' she though dangerously, chewing her olive-branch bacon. 'I'll kill him later.' She decided._

_She and Harry now looked at the still ('Seriously Tracey?' Daphne pondered.) statue-like Tracey Davis as she stared off into the distance, and Daphne started to reach out to touch her. Just then, Tracey shook herself, and looked mildly confused._

"_Woah, I think I just had the strangest day-dream!" Tracey said to Daphne. "Potter over there had said you two were friends, and you agreed." She chirped._

_Gulping she glanced at the suddenly sheepish looking Harry out of the corner of her eye, thinking of the pain she would inflict on him later for putting this situation on her in public._

_She turned back to the confused looking Tracey, and said "Er, it wasn't a daydream." Daphne said warily, gauging her friends reaction._

_Tracey stayed silent for a moment, and once again, Harry glanced up at the heads table. Seeing him do this, Daphne did this as well and saw the headmaster shaking from restrained mirth, his eyes twinkling crazily, and tears of laughter were escaping his eyes as he looked upon them. She flushed, and quickly turned back to Tracey, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Harry sent a final pleading look to headmaster before looking back at Tracey._

_Tracey chose that moment to interject her thoughts, and in the process nearly alerted the Great Hall to the delicate situation. She took a deep breath, she opened her mouth…._

_And Harry's hand covered it just as she was about to shout. Daphne looked, and then nearly giggled when she saw Harry quickly take his hand back, shaking it vigorously. Obviously, Tracey had liked it._

"_Ahem." Harry cleared his throat, recovering his composure in record time, making Daphne vaguely impressed, and they both surveyed the now sheepish looking Tracey Davis._

_Tracey had the grace to blush, and said, "Er, want to run that by me again?"._

_A moment of silence, and suddenly Daphne snorted, and Harry snickered at the flustered girl. Sighing affectionately at her friend, Daphne started to fill her confused friend in, Harry interjecting at certain points._

_While the three new friends talked and laughed, they were unaware of the suspicious look that was put upon there backs. Pondering this situation, Leo Malfoy decided to find out just what the three were talking about, no matter the cost._

_Flashback end_

'That had not been the most pleasant time, but I have to admit, it was pretty funny in hindsight.' Daphne thought smirking, understanding the headmasters mirth.

At the moment, she wasn't really angry with Harry anymore. In fact, she hadn't been truly mad, as she would have told her friend later anyway. She did wish she had some warning before Harry had said what he did, especially as it happened in the most public place in Hogwarts possible. However, she had no intention of telling Harry she wasn't really angry with him until she had too.

She found it amusing that someone who knew so much about fighting and dueling and could probably beat her to a pulp was terrified of her mere glares. She idly thought of how he would react when she blew up at him, and decided it would a lot more amusing and adorable than him hiding behind a plate of bagels.

Hold on a sec, adorable? She was thinking about this to much.

'Alright, enough on that. I gotta finish this essay.' She thought, determined to put all distractions out of her head.

Of course, this was a lot easier said than done as she immediately thought of asking Harry to read through the paper after she was finished, despite the fact that she was more than adequate at potions. Of course, at the mere thought of Harry's name did her thoughts get completely de-railed from the task at hand, and it took several minutes to get her mind back on track, which was de-railed again because of a certain arrogant blond Slytherin Ponce, er, Prince.

"Hello there Daphne." Leo Malfoy said, as he took a seat in the chair across from her, and putting his feet up on the table between them.

She ignored him, and tried to read a paragraph from her potions textbook ("_101 Absolutely Useful but Difficult for the Advanced Witch and Wizard and How to Make Them.) _Daphne idly thought about why wizard and witch authors thought of such ridiculously long and pointless titles for their books. You would think wizards and witches with all their supposedly superior knowledge; they would have more creative, and shorter, book titles.

The train of thought was also de-railed like her focus on her potions essay when Leo once more tried to get her attention, frowning slightly at being ignored. "Daphne."

No response from the girl.

"Daphne!"

Still nothing.

"Daphne Greengrass, I'm talking to you!" Leo said, a little more flustered sounding.

Sighing, Daphne closed her book and looked up at Leo, deciding she would finish her essay later with Harry.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She asked tiredly.

Sounding much less flustered as he responded, he said "I wanted to know if anything bad was going on." Leo said casually, as if he they were old friends and he had always cared about her well-being.

Instead of comforting her with the tone of his voice, it sent alarm bells ringing in her head. Normally, she and the elder Malfoy child ignored each other, keeping to their preferred social circles. Daphne with the neutral Slytherings, and Malfoy with the bigoted purebloods.

She knew right away Malfoy was doing what his father always did, and his younger brother wished he could do as subtly as his older brother and father. He was digging for info in the most casual way possible, trying to get her to slip something that might not even sound important at first, but could be used against her in a dangerously effective way.

It might have worked too, if Malofy had talked to her on a regular basis, and she hadn't grown up in a political family, and hadn't become the Ice Queen, and –

Well, lets just say if Daphne had been more naïve and stupid, it might have worked. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to reverse the sudden subtle pressure by staring at him, trying to make him sweat and fidget, give any sign that he was vulnerable.

Leo had something his younger brother did not however, and that was smarts. Leo knew this game as well as she did, and thus did nothing more than look at his fingernails lazily, cleaning non-existent dirt from under them as, she was positive, he surveyed her out of the corner of his eye.

She thought of what he could possibly want to know, and realized that it might have something to do with what happened at breakfast. She thought it had been hidden rather well, but she guessed she wasn't the only observant one in the hall at the time.

Knowing she had to answer soon, and politely at that otherwise he would know something was up (if he didn't already). She waited until he looked up, and she cocked an eyebrow at him.

He simply smirked and raised and eyebrow in response. "Well? It's not as if I asked you to date me or something. Are you going to answer my question?" He asked, his tone the perfect amount of politeness, humor, and concern all rolled into one.

Too bad she knew it was all 100% fake.

"Of course I am Leo, I was just pondering your question so I could answer honestly and truthfully." She said innocently, her eyes wide and her lips slightly pouting. Now it was simply a matter of who's mask was more convincing.

"Well?"

"I thought about it rather hard, and found that nothing was concerning me at the moment, other than this blasted, bloody potions essay!" She said passionately, sounding genuinely vexed with the essay.

Were it anyone else, it would've been enough to fool them. However, Leo knew Daphne was very good at potions, and raised his right eyebrow. A sign that he was alerted that something could be off.

"I thought you were good at potions. In fact, it's supposed to be your best subject, next to history, isn't it?" He asked curiously, though she could detect the slight triumph underneath his tone. He believed he had her.

In reality, she had won. "I am. I'm just getting so distracted from it, that it's hard to concentrate on the essay." She said innocently.

The barb was subtle, but it still hit Malfoy right in the chink in his armor. His face was a sudden flash of shock before it was hidden beneath the concerned mask. They both knew he lost, but she was surprised to see that he wasn't acting as his younger brother was. Draco would've turned red with rage, while Leo simply shrugged it off. This was more dangerous, as it showed he was persistent.

For a few minutes, the two stared each other down, neither willing to back down despite Daphne's advantage. It wasn't until Harry stepped out of his dorm did Malfoy smirk, and stand.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your essay." He said easily, and she watched him like a hawk.

"Thank you." She said, but still looked at him, wary.

He turned to walk back to his dorm, but when Harry came within earshot, he said loud enough for Harry to hear, "I hope you know you can come to me with any problem Daphne, and I'll do my best to help you." He said, and continued on to his dorm, closing the door softly behind him.

Daphne felt like she had just dodged a offensive jinx, and knew that this wasn't the end of Malfoys attempts at finding out…. Something.

She put it out of her mind though when Harry came closer, looking confused and a little….

Jealous?

"What was that about?" He asked, sounding confused and concerned for her.

She felt touched for some reason, and shook her head, trying to ease him a little bit. "It's nothing. Malfoy apparently has taken an interest in me. I just politely turned him down." She said back, and noticed that it didn't seem to help.

Harry's mouth tightened a little bit, and she swore she heard a slight growl, before his face was smiling at her, his eyes dancing about excitably. Thinking she had imagined it, she paid close attention to Harry.

"So the champions are being chosen tomorrow! Who do you think it's going to be?" He asked, acting like a little kid on Christmas Day, and then Boxing Day after that.

"I honestly don't know, we're going to have to wait until tomorrow." She said honestly, and Harry pouted.

"Awh, you're no fun. Sarah thinks it's going to be Krum, than that Veela looking chick, and Diggory. Blaise has his money on it being Angelina Johnson from Gryffindor, Krum, and some brunette French girl." Harry said like it was the most important thing in the world.

"Really? That's stupid." She said back, and Harry rose both his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, at least they are attempting to think about who it could possibly be instead of being a spoilsport and sitting out of the fun." He said mockingly, a smile dancing in his eyes.

"I'm not a spoilsport!" She said in response, not thinking of another comeback.

"So…. You're just naturally boring?" He asked innocently.

"Of course not! I know how to have fun!" She said defensively, and cursed mentally when she realized she was already on defense.

Harry sensed his advantage and moved in for the kill.

"Really? I wasn't aware grass knew how to have fun. It's normally so slow and boring." He teased, and that did it.

"POTTER!"

And so an argument ensued, and during it, Daphne was thinking about Harry while she yelled at him and threw pillows and quills and occasionally, and transfigured frog or rabbit at him, while he yelped and ran about the room in circles, much to her amusement.

She mentally rolled her eyes at how enthusiastic Harry was about this, and was kinda shocked when she realized he reminded her a lot of Tracey, and she rather enjoyed his company. Laughing at another ridiculously feminine scream from Harry, she knew she was really enjoying herself.

She could get used to this.

_Empty Promises_

Halloween. All Saints Day. The day of Voldemorts defeat at the hands of Samantha Rose Potter. And the day where the three champions were to be chosen for the twi-wizard tournament. Classes that day had been pure torture, and no one really paid attention or learnt anything new that day save Daphne, Harry, and Hermione Granger, who seemed determined to learn despite the excitement and significance of the day. If Harry thought Daphne was a "stick-in-the-mud", then she wondered what he thought of Granger.

Classes that day had been ended early by the Headmaster when he realized that no one was paying any attention to the teachers, or their food (Unless it was Ron Weasley. How that boy ate so much and stayed so thin remained a mystery to Daphne.) and instead the focus was on the case in which the Goblet of Fire was encased.

After classes were let out early, the day seemed to move a bit faster, but was still torturously slow compared to the previous few weeks. To entertain themselves, Harry and Daphne had taken to pranking the other with small easily reversed pranks.

Harry had started it by charming her quill to suddenly float out of her hand and fly around her head in circles in the middle of Magical History. With everyone else about to fall asleep due to Binns' droning on about the goblin war of 1211, it kept everyone awake and laughing about it. She had laughed herself when she heard a bird's chirp, and realized it came from the now circling quill.

Binns continued to drone on, oblivious to what was happening in his classroom, and she had pondered on whether or not the ghost was bored with the sound of his own voice, and had simply tuned everything, including the classroom and his own voice, out. Deciding the fun was over, she reached up to take the quill when it suddenly did a loop-de-loop around her hand, and fluttered off, making a sound ridiculously close to laughter.

Narrowing her eyes, she reached up again, only for it to do a corkscrew away from her, and making that sound again. She growled, and looked at the innocently writing Harry. Knowing he was the cause for this, she sent a silent jinx at his inkwell, which then stood up, went in front of his face, and tap danced. It was successful in catching his attention, and he looked at it curiously.

Smiling with triumph, she waved her wand and the dancing inkwell proceeded to explode in his face, causing ink to fly everywhere, and the class once again laughed, and some even applauded Daphne, Harry included.

She laughed when the Weasley twins came over to her and congratulated her successful completing her first prank, and they stated just how proud they were to see a Slytherin do such a hilarious gesture. Harry had smirked at this, but she thought it looked a little forced, only going to a normal smile when the twins walked away from her.

All in all, the day had been fun, and now the students were at the Halloween feast, and the Great Hall was much more quiet than it usually was, though it was far from silent. Daphne looked about the hall and noticed Leo Malfoy gazing at her. He only nodded and smirked in her direction when she looked at him.

Putting his actions out of her mind, she looked around at the foreign delegates faces. She remembered their entrances into the castle, and thought them rather spectacular. She liked the flying carriage pulled by the pegasi, but Harry had preferred the Durmstrang ship. When she asked why, he shrugged and said he liked the water, and he found boats much cooler than a flying carriage. She had rolled her eyes at this and smacked him over the head, and she smiled when he had asked why she had done that, replying it was because she could.

She noticed Harry's sister sitting between Granger and the youngest Male Weasley. The male Weasley was stuffing his face (no surprise there) while Granger looked at him in disgust. Eventually, she smacked him with a book (Where in Merlin's pointy hat did she pull that from?!) and she presumed that she told him to stop eating because he looked at her incredulously, like the idea was ludicrous. That wasn't the important thing though.

The important thing was that Samantha looked like she had swallowed a lemon. She was sitting between the two of them, looking at the Goblet and sulking, and looking at her brother (Who to Daphne's glee, was sitting right next to her) with jealousy in her eyes.

No doubt she resented her brother for being the required age for competing in the tournament. She idly wondered if Harry had put his name into the goblet before she looked up at the head table. She noticed that the Potter parents sat there next to each other, rather then in the specific order that was normally there at the head table. She was not the only one to notice this, as she saw her head of house look like he had also swallowed a lemon, and then chocked on it, which was understandably.

For some reason that only Merlin knows, the Potters had chosen to sit next to Severus Snape. She noticed how the Potter parents were talking to each other quietly, occasionally glancing and smiling at Samantha, who sulked back. Now, this was normal, and she scoffed at Samantha's childish actions, which caused Harry to turn around to her and look at her with a questioning look. She shook her head, and he nodded, turning back to his facial conversation with the Headmaster, who looked grave for some reason.

She kept looking around the head table, and noticed Alastor Moody, the assistant defense teacher who had assigned her Harry as her tutor (which she had been meaning to thank him for) was looking suspiciously smug about something. She filed that away, and her attention went back to the Potter parents, when she noticed something odd.

Never once did they look and smile at their son. Not even so much as a glance.

This confused Daphne. Why wouldn't the Potter's acknowledge their son? Unless….

Daphne suddenly remembered her words to Harry on the first day of school. She had told him no one had time to care about him, and she suddenly realized she may have been more right than she knew at the time. Was Harry…. Neglected? She noticed that with the presence of the elder Potters in the room, Harry seemed to have tensed up very tightly, and when she caught a glimpse at his face, it was angered. His mouth tight, and his eyes unnaturally hard.

Daphne was about to voice her concerns to Harry, when the Headmaster stood. Deciding it could wait until after the choosing, she paid attention to Dumbledore, and noticed dryly that he hadn't even had to say anything for the Hall to fall dead silent. Dumbledore seemed not to notice the tense atmosphere, and smiled serenely, his eyes twinkling full blast.

"The time has come to pick the Champions!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully, and Daphne noticed a door towards the back of the room opened, and Bartimus Crouch and Ludo Bagman stepped out of the room. Crouch looked serious, while Bagman was smiling like a schoolboy.

"I ask the chosen champions to enter the room behind Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman when chosen." Dumbledore said.

"And let me make it clear one last time, there is no going back once you are chosen. You've been warned, and now I hope you are prepared." He said gravely, his normally twinkling eyes suddenly hard, and Daphne caught a small glimpse at just why Dumbledore was a hero of two wars.

As soon as she had caught the glimpse, it was gone, replaced by the slightly senile grandfatherly Headmaster she knew. She shivered at the control, and idly thought just what was going on in the old man's head, and was alarmed when as soon as she had thought that, the headmaster looked at her. Briefly to be sure, but she felt as though she had been exposed, and shrank behind Harry's back, trying to hide from the piercing gaze.

Dumbledore waved his arm about the hall, and the fires that lit the place with a comforting, warm atmosphere went out slowly, one by one, until only the case sat on the stage in the dark room, casting a slight glow. Dumbledore waved his hand again, and the case opened slowly, the sides falling slowly, like watching an obelisk fall in four different directions slowly.

The goblet's fire was blue, and danced with a haunted grace that made the fire seem… unnatural. It was as though the fire was capable of intelligent thought, and seemed to sway side to side in a hypnotizing dance. Daphne found it quite… eerie.

Suddenly the fire went rigid and turned a brilliant red, and the from the Goblet the first of the three names burst from the blames. As quick as it had gone from the Goblet, Dumbledore's arm shot up and caught it mid-flight. She was surprised at the show of reflexes, especially for someone his age. She pushed the idle thoughts out of her mind when Dumbledore spoke out in a jovial tone of voice.

"The Durmstrang Champion is…. Viktor Krum!" He shouted.

The Slytherin table seemed to shake and a thunderous applause and shouts of approval broke out from the end of the table, and Daphne blanched as she remembered that the Durmstrang delegates had chosen to sit at the end of the Slytherin table when they entered Hogwarts.

Krum stood up and walked determinedly, not arrogantly, into the Champions room as the Hall applauded for him. Everyone immediately settled down when the Goblet's fire went rigid once more.

A second name burst forth from the flames, and for a second time Dumbledore showed his reflexes and caught it, reading the name on it.

"The Beauxbatons Champon is… Fleur Delecour!" He cried out joyfully.

This was met with mixed reactions. For one, she heard a cry of pleasure, and several cries of disappointment. She noticed that several of people on the French delegation broke out into violent sobs, and she scoffed, while Harry snickered at their reactions next to her.

The rest of the hall applauded her, and Daphne did as well. She noticed that Harry cursed, and handed a smug looking Sarah Parkinson a galleon. Daphne shook her head at Harry, and he just shrugged in response.

For the final time, the Goblet's fire went rigid and a brilliant scarlet, so bright it was almost blinding. The third and final name was expelled from the goblet and landed in Dumbledore's out-stretched palm slowly. For some reason, Daphne fought for breath.

Upon reading the name, Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise and obvious shock. He looked up, and she could tell he was struggling to keep the shock out of his voice when he read out the third name,

"The Hogwarts Champion is…... Harry Potter."

_Empty Promises_

Daphne sat in the Slytherin Common room. It was late, and Parkinson and Zabini had both attempted to stay up late with her, as well as Tracey, to congratulate Harry. In the end however, they had ended up going to bed at the midnight mark, and Daphne was tempted to go after them. That had been three hours ago. It was 3 AM before Daphne heard the door.

She stood up dizzily, words of congratulations on the tip of her tongue when they died away, instead replaced with fear. Harry had stepped through the door, and she couldn't recall ever seeing something more terrifying. Harry's body was tense, and he walked slowly, as though stalking invisible prey. His hands were deadly still, and he moved with a sudden lethality that made Daphne want to go run into the nearest corner and hide.

If that wasn't bad enough, his face could possibly give her a nightmare tonight. His face was blank. She was used to the open and emotionally funny Harry. This Harry had the face of Moody. The face of a person who's seen to much. The face of a solder. His eyes however, were the real reason her hair stood on end, and goose bumps erupted all over her body. His eyes were cold, and promised pain to whatever victim was intended.

They were also black. Not pure black, no, she could still see the green in them, but in his rage his eyes had darkened so much they were for all intents and purposes, were black. They also seemed to be random spots of what looked to be fire in his eyes, and she knew he was truly angry. She thought she had seen and knew anger, because she and her mother (as well as the youngest Weasley) had quite the temper. However, the three of them combined were nothing compared to this. The three of them were balls or gas.

Harry was cold as Ice.

"H-H-H-Harry? I-Is s-ss-s-something w-wrong-g?" She stuttered out, frozen in fear from his gaze alone.

And suddenly, the Harry she knew came back. His eyes looked at her, and softened considerately, as well as lightened up.

"Shit Daphne, what are you still doing up?" Harry asked her.

She said nothing. She just trembled, his appearance was the stuff of nightmares. Seeing this, Harry walked quickly towards her, his arms out-stretched. Without even thinking, Daphne rushed forward to meet him, and fell into his embrace, suddenly sobbing. She felt like a young toddler that just had her first nightmare, and was crying into her father's chest. Expect right now, she felt much more safer, and felt like she… _belonged_ there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her softly, his tone soothing.

Still trembling, she said, "You looked so angry when you came in, and you looked really s-scary." She managed to say, only stumbling over the word scary.

"Scary" was a fucking understatement.

Harry cursed, and held her tighter, and Daphne could hear his heart beat, and sighed in contentment, closing her eyes.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to her, and she nodded, backing away from his warm embrace slowly and reluctantly.

She met his eyes shyly with her own, and were relieved to see they were full of concern for her. She laughed lightly "As long as you never do it again." She said, trying to sound stern, but sounding more weak than anything.

Harry shook his head vigorously and sat her down on the couch, taking a seat next to her. "Never."

The two simply sat there for awhile, watching the silver fire in the green common room slowly burn. Daphne leaned on Harry, and yawned, her eyes feeling heavy. She heard him whisper to her, "Go to sleep."

She mumbled, and yawned again, and whispered back "I will. Congrats on getting your name chosen from the Goblet. When did you put it in, anyway?" She whispered, her eyes closed now, and sleep was so close.

Sleep was futile as her eyes snapped open at his quiet response.

"I never put my name into the Goblet."

**SO, what did you think? Better? Or still boring. If enough people tell me it's boring, I'll speed along the tournament so we can get to the tasks as soon as possible. Anyway, like I said, sorry for taking so long to get this up.**

**Until next time!**

**-Venator**


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